


Breaking Free

by parmemesan



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Alternate Universe - Kindergarten Best Friends, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, College Student!Josh, Fluff, Lounge Singer!Tyler, M/M, Masturbation, No age difference, Party Games, Shower Duet, Singing in the Shower, Texting, alcohol mention, college party, just a lot of fluff, mild homophobia in chapter 9
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 13:51:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4627689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parmemesan/pseuds/parmemesan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"creating space between us, till we're separate hearts."</p><p>"B-," Tyler started, but then broke off as he realized that it wasn't him that sang Gabriella's part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Showering - The Musical

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this: http://ciaoloueh.tumblr.com/post/116791213008/awful-aus-so-weve-never-met-but-our-showers
> 
> First fic woo :^)

"Ok, yes mom, I'm ok mom, yep I got settled in just fine, ok bye mom, love you, yes I didn't forget, ok see you, no it's ok, bye, yes, bye," Tyler finally said and pressed 'End Call'. He loved his mom, but he wasn't the type to play the "no you hang up first" game.

He sighed as he stretched over his bed and stared at his new ceiling. It felt great to finally have a place to call his own, with no siblings always creating noise, no parents constantly bickering about "did you do the dishes" and "come help me with this email". Now, Tyler could control when it was silent and when he had to go to bed, now he could leave clothes where he wanted without his mom picking them up and bothering him about it. He could go to sleep at 5 am, he could use his phone and laptop without head phones, he could use the bathroom with the door open. The possibilities were endless! Living alone had been the best decision that Tyler has made in his entire life.

|-/

Tyler had spent the first day of his newfound independence eating pizza and scrolling through Tumblr until he had decided to take a shower. He was pretty gross after moving around the boxes and furniture up to his apartment. There weren't many things he had to bring, it was his first place of his own after all, but bringing a keyboard up to the 5th floor while the elevator was under construction was not a very relaxing activity.

Tyler grabbed a towel and a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. He turned on the tap, stripped himself of his kind-of-sweaty attire and stepped under the warm stream of water. He scrubbed himself and started singing under his breath.

"We're soaring, flying,  
There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach," he started quietly, then realized, he's in his own house! He doesn't have to be quiet in the shower anymore! He can sing as loud as he wants to! With those thoughts in his head, Tyler increased his volume and continued singing.

"IF WE'RE TRYING,  
SO WE'RE BREAKING FREE," he used the shower head as a microphone, his head in washing off his grime, but his heart in the song. Tyler was so engrossed in creating music that he didn't notice the noises of a shower starting through the bathroom wall.

"YOU KNOW THE WORLD CAN SEE US  
IN A WAY THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN WHO WE ARE!!"

"creating space between us, till we're separate hearts."

"B-," Tyler started, but then broke off as he realized that it wasn't him that sang Gabriella's part.

"But your faith it gives me strength," the voice continued. It was coming from behind the bathroom wall. Tyler wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, the situation was ridiculous, but also kind of really embarrassing. Someone caught him singing a Highschool Musical song... Whoever did must think he's a nerd, but they also continued singing. Tyler knew what he had to do.

"Strength to bELIEVE," Tyler and the mysterious voice sang in unison.

"WE'RE BREAKING FREE," sang Tyler.

"WE'RE SOARIN'," continued the Gabriella.

"FLYIN'!"

"THERE'S NOT A STAR IN HEAVEN THAT WE CAN'T REACH," they sang together.

That went on for the whole song, Tyler as Troy and his neighbour with good music taste as Gabriella.

"You know the world can see us,  
In a way that is different than who we are..." they ended off together. Tyler clapped and Gabriella laughed. The sound of the water stopping on the other side reminded Tyler that he had spent a while in the shower already. He turned off his own water and thought about asking for Gabriella's real name, but would that be weird? He wasn't sure, so to avoid any awkward situations, Tyler kept quiet, dried himself off, got dressed and left the bathroom. Singing with that much enthusiasm had made him tired so he went to bed, preparing for his first sleep as a free man.


	2. Drumming and Snacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You don't look like a Gabriella," Tyler said without thinking, immediately punching himself in his mind. Gabriella seemed a bit taken aback at that statement, but then smirked.
> 
> "Well, you're not much of a Zac Effron either," he retorted, and Tyler feigned offence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda filler chapter for getting to know e/o yeee

Tyler's dreams were not exciting, colourful adventures, nor were they terrifying nightmares, and he rarely had the sticky kinds of dreams. Tyler usually didn't dream at all, or just forgot that he did. Whenever he did have a dream, they were boring everyday things like washing the dishes or shopping for notebooks. Today, when he woke up, he had remembered that he had one of those rare dreams. Dream Tyler had watched TV and thought about how nobody should believe what they broadcast on there.

Opening his eyes, he was a bit disoriented at first at the not very familiar surroundings until he remembered that _yooo I'm in my own apartment_. Smiling, Tyler got out of bed, put on his flower kimono and went to make himself breakfast.

He searched his fridge for food and looked at the sad amount of edible things in it. A disheartened sigh filled the kitchen as he looked for the snacks he brought with himself from home.

Failing to find anything moderately edible, he decided to just go to the grocery store and buy some food. He had a fair bit of money left even after paying for a month's rent for his apartment. Tyler worked as a lounge singer at a bar, close to where he now lived (which was one of the selling points of this place) and it paid a couple hundred each night. Tyler counted himself very lucky for finding his job. He started right after high school. Tyler wasn't sure if he wanted to go to college and liked singing a lot and when he saw a flyer that a local bar was hiring, he decided to try it out. That was 3 years ago and needless to say, it worked and the people liked him so much that he now played in the evenings 6 days a week. Of course he had ambitions to be a full-time singer, but he had to start somewhere.

Tyler changed from his home attire to something that he could be seen outside in, a grey shirt, skinny jeans and cute flower print shoes. He took his keys and walked out of the door. As he locked his door, the door to the next room apartment swung open.

A boy with red hair and a shirt that had a UFO on it with the saying 'I want to believe' walked out. Tyler decided he was very cute. He also remembered the shower incident and stared at Gabriella for a moment.

"Uh," said the boy and Tyler remembered that it was weird to look at people for a long time.

"You don't look like a Gabriella," Tyler said without thinking, immediately punching himself in his mind. Gabriella seemed a bit taken aback at that statement, but then smirked.

"Well, you're not much of a Zac Effron either," he retorted, and Tyler feigned offence.

"I'll have you know, my nickname in high school was Troy Bolton," that was true, Tyler was known for shooting hoops on the basketball team.

"Well, Troy, are you new to this place?" the boy inquired.

"Yeah, I just moved in yesterday."

"Welcome! I've lived here for a year so far, my name's Josh, I could show you around if you want."

"Thank you, Ga- Josh, that sounds nice. I'm Tyler by the way."

"Tyler, were you just about to call me Gabriella?" Josh grinned.

"I had to call you something in my head," Tyler defended himself, "Anyway, could you tell me where the closest grocery store is? Snacks are a necessity."

"Sure! I was just about to go there myself so you can come with me," said Josh and motioned Tyler to follow him.

|-/

As Tyler followed Josh to the grocery store, they talked.

"So, do you go to OSC or?" asked Josh as they walked down a street.

"Oh, uh, I don't go to college, I work as a lounge singer in Denial Number 4. I was pretty lucky to get that job right after graduating," I replied, "Are you in college?"

"Yeah, but I don't really know what I'm doing there," Josh said with a sigh, "My dad works there as a chancellor so I got a free scholarship."

"I see," said Tyler, "What's your major?"

"Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies, it's not really my thing, but it's ok. My real passion is music, I love drumming," said Josh as he hit invisible cymbals.

They got to a place called "Croger" and walked in as the revolving doors opened up for them.

"You play the drums?" asked Tyler, "I play the ukulele and piano."

"And you said you sang too, right?" Josh asked, "You sounded amazing in the shower!" At that, Tyler looked down and blushed. Josh seemed to realize his mistake and turned red.

"Uh, sorry, that came out wrong," he coughed, "Speaking of drumming, what kinds of snacks do you like?"

"That had nothing to do with drumming, but I love Red Vines and Reese's cups," said Tyler and headed towards what looked like the snacks isle.

"That had everything to do with drumming because I eat Lucky Charms before and after my sessions," said Josh and followed Tyler.

Tyler and Josh walked around the store together, getting to know each other while stocking up on food.

"Is that an eggplant in your basket?" asked Josh.

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Have you never ate eggplant? It's good as hell with spices," replied Tyler and Josh looked at him incredulously.

"Ok, whatever you say," Josh said and headed towards the check out lane. The woman at the counter scanned all of Josh's items and Josh handed her the money. He took his bags and waited for Tyler.

Tyler gave the woman his basket and she scanned them too, pausing at the eggplant and eyeing Tyler for a second before continuing. _What do these people have against eggplants?_ Tyler thought and handed the lady his money.

|-/

"Well, I'll see you later, I have to go watch X-Files and finish my essay," said Josh at his door with a smile.

"Dude, I love X-Files," said Tyler, "and good luck on your essay, those are terrible things."

"Yeah.. Oh! Wait here, I'll be right back," exclaimed Josh and disappeared into his apartment. He was out again in a couple of seconds. Josh handed Tyler a piece of paper.

"What's this?" Tyler asked.

"My phone number, duh, what else can be a piece of paper with numbers on it."

"Oh," said Tyler feeling dumb, he looked at the paper with the digits and the name "Josh Dun" scribbled on it with red pen.  
"Thank you, Dun, duet with you later?"

"Duet with you later," Josh confirmed and closed his door. Tyler's heart was doing weird things the more he looked at the written number. He stood there for a minute, then got to his senses and went inside his own apartment. Tyler was in for a ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adventures continue!1!1  
> Spcl thanks to hey-its-dani on Tumblr bc she helps me lots


	3. New Contact and 2 Blocked Users

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2:57pm Jish: can i still come nekked
> 
> 2:58pm Tyler: no bc i don't want to be fired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really fun to write lmao

**New Contact: Jish Dun**

2:21pm Tyler: hello gabriella, it's me troy

2:22pm Jish: o troy i have waited 4 u

**New Contact: Tyler Bolton**

2:22pm Jish: this essay is the worst thing ive ever experienced

2:23pm Tyler: sounds tough, glad I'm not @ school lmao  
2:23pm Tyler: just try your best to keep your head in the game

2:24pm Jish: so dun w/ u

**New Message: from Pepe Wentz @ Josh**

2:23pm Pepe: ARE YOU DOING YOUR ESSAY

2:23pm Josh: yes mom

2:23pm Pepe: ok good cause I need help

2:24pm Josh: ive got enough problems of my own ty

2:24pm Pepe: r00d  
2:25pm Pepe: no but rlly

2:25pm Josh: fine ill email u 1 of the articles i used

2:25pm Pepe: TY SON

2:26pm Josh: np mom

**New Message: from Beebo Urie @ Ty**

2:47pm Beebo: yo wat u doin

2:47pm Ty: your mom lmaooooooo

2:48pm Beebo: I didn't come to be disrespected like this

2:48pm Ty: ok what did you come for

2:49pm Beebo: I came to ask wen ur shift at dn4 starts

2:49pm Ty: 7

2:50pm Beebo: ok I'll be there ok

2:50pm Ty: ye man

2:50pm Beebo: have you made friends yet

2:51pm Ty: maybe maybe not, im a man of mystery

2:52pm Beebo: so you did, I hope I won't have to fite them to be your bff number 1

2:52pm Ty: when would you like your fight scheduled

2:52pm Beebo: aRE YOU KIDDING ME  
2:52pm Beebo: MAKE THEM COME TO DN4 ILL FITE THEM

2:53pm Ty: k

**New Message: From Tyler Bolton @ Jish**

2:53pm Tyler: wanna come hear me sing

2:55pm Jish: sure wait i just need to get my clothes off

2:56pm Tyler: ...

2:56pm Tyler: i meant like in dn4

2:57pm Jish: o  
2:57pm Jish: can i still come nekked

2:58pm Tyler: no bc i don't want to be fired

2:58pm Jish: ur no fun  
2:58pm Jish: u had no problem w it ystrsay

2:59pm Tyler: gabriella no

3:00pm Jish: nah ill come clothed, when is it

3:01pm Tyler: 7

3:01pm Jish: ok well i gotta finish my essay reel quick then ttyl

3:02pm Tyler: bye Jish

**New Message: from Ty Joseph @ Beebo**

3:02pm Ty: he's coming

3:03pm Beebo: good I'll fite him for you

3:03pm Ty: have fun trying, he plays the drums  
3:04pm Ty: and from the looks of his guns, he plays lots of drums

3:05pm Beebo: ...looking at his guns huh Ty

3:05pm Ty: stop immediately

3:06pm Beebo: making "friends" I see

3:06pm Ty: ill block you

3:07pm Beebo: I'm also great friends with Ryan

3:07pm Ty: Brendon Urie, cease this moment

3:08pm Beebo: ok I won't fite your friend  
3:08pm Beebo: he will be spared

3:09pm Ty: k, but i was so excited to see you get rekt

3:09pm Beebo: the only thing that'll be rekt will be him after he hears you sing for first time

3:10pm Ty: by your logic, he's already rekt

3:10pm Beebo: yoU ALREADY SANG FOR HIM?  
3:10pm Beebo: I wasn't even that quick :^(

3:11pm Ty: that's because I was singing breaking free in the shower and he heard and sang along

3:12pm Beebo: ..what  
3:12pm Beebo: he was already in your shower???  
3:13pm Beebo: holy shit is Troy fast  
3:19pm Beebo: you're killing me here  
3:26pm Beebo: please tell me you're not with him  
3:38pm Beebo: TYLER

3:41pm Ty: chill i was making and eating eggplant

3:42pm Beebo: is that what they call it nowadays

3:43pm Ty: ill block you no joke

3:44pm Beebo: just tell me how he got into your shower, Gabriella

3:44pm Ty: actually he was gabriella  
3:45pm Ty: and he wasn't physically there, our showers are on different sides of one wall and it's a thin wall  
3:46pm Ty: i was singing and then he sang and then we did a duet

3:47pm Beebo: that's the best thing I've ever heard

3:47pm Ty: then we met and he took me to the grocery store

3:48pm Beebo: that's a unique first date

3:49pm Ty: this is your last warning, my thumb is hovering over the block button

3:50pm Beebo: what's his name

3:50pm Ty: Josh

3:50pm Beebo: cute name, is he cute

3:51pm Ty: ...he's p cute

3:52pm Beebo: aww can't wait to meet your future husband today

**Beebo Urie blocked by Ty Joseph**

**New message: from P Stumpy @ Tyler**

4:12pm P: What are these tales I hear of a cute Josh

4:15pm Tyler: tell brendon he's on my hit list

4:15pm P: Is he coming to Dn4?

4:16pm Tyler: yea

4:16pm P: I'm excited :)

4:17pm Tyler: pls don't use :) that's creepy

4:17pm P: :)

4:18pm Tyler: s t op

4:18pm P: :) :) :) :) :)  
4:19pm P: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

4:20pm Tyler: n O

4:20 pm P: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

**P Stumpy blocked by Tyler Joseph**

**New message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

4:20pm Jish: blaze it

4:22pm Tyler: you're lame

4:22pm Jish: u missed it by two whole minutes

4:23pm Tyler: ...aren't you supposed to be doing an essay

4:24pm Jish: im so dun bai

4:24pm Tyler: k


	4. Friendships Formed, Weddings Planned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter yo

Tyler had never been really nervous about going to sing. This was different somehow, his heart beating faster as 7 o'clock grew nearer. He wanted to say that it totally wasn't because Josh was going to be there, but he would be lying to himself. Tyler wasn't sure why he was anxious about Josh being there, because Josh had already heard Tyler sing.

At 6, Tyler put on his usual suit and messed around with his hair a little. When he decided that it looked good, he pressed down all his irrational emotions and left his apartment to make his way to Denial Number 4.

|-/

Josh sat in his room wondering what he should wear. He had never been to the bar that Tyler sang at, so he wasn't sure on the dress code. He didn't want to be over dressed, but he didn't want to be under dressed either. Looking from a nice shirt with black skinny jeans, to a vest and dress pants, he decided that either way, he'd look like an idiot.

**New Message: from Alien Boy @ Debbs**

6:04pm Alien: !!!send help idk wat to wear

6:05pm Debbs: Ooh!! Where u goin'??

6:05pm Alien: 2 this bar so i can hear frend sing

6:06pm Debbs: I didnt kno Pete sang

6:06pm Alien: its not pete  
6:06pm Alien: pete cant sing for shit

6:07pm Debbs: O ok, who is this new friend then

6:07pm Alien: his name is tyler  
6:07pm Alien: ANYWAY, thats not the point  
6:08pm Alien: idk what i should wear bc idk if this bar is fancy or casual u feel

6:09pm Debbs: Hmm, wear something that's not too casual, but not too fancy either

6:09pm Alien: ...how do i do that

6:10pm Debbs: K, get that button up I like and a jacket

6:10pm Alien: ok ty

6:11pm Debbs: Can I come

6:14pm Alien: idk wait

**New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

6:14pm Jish: can i bring friends

6:18pm Tyler: ye man

6:19pm Jish: ok thanks

**New Message: from Josh Dun @ Pepe and Debbs**

6:20pm Josh: guys come to this bar named "Denial Number 4" at 7, idk what clothes you should wear, but come ok thanks

6:21pm Debbs: I'll be there!!

6:25pm Pepe: ok y tho

6:26pm Debbs: His "friend" is gonna sing there ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

6:26pm Pepe: ILL B THRE

6:27pm Josh: honestly  
6:27pm Josh: im taking back the invite

6:28pm Debbs: Nop, we're going

6:28pm Pepe: yup

6:29pm Josh: ugh well i need to get going, bye

6:30pm Debbs: See you there

6:30pm Pepe: yup

Josh got changed into what Debby recommended for him, and honestly, he looked hot. Debby knew what was good for him. Josh got his phone and looked up the directions. Once he got them, he got up and left. He liked to be early, not late.

|-/

When Tyler got to the bar, he had 40 minutes before his shift. The usual people greeted him.

"Hey Ty," said the bartender whose name tag said 'Joe'. Another whose name was Andy nodded his head at Tyler.

"Hi Joe, Andy," returned Tyler with a smile.

"TYLER!" came a shout from a table closest to the stage. It was Brendon. He was waving at Tyler to come. On the stage, was the current singer, Patrick. He was almost done his own shift, and was close to ending his song, a cover of Don't Stop Me Now.

Tyler headed towards the table.

"Hey," said Tyler as he sat down.

"So, where is your boyfriend," asked Brendon nonchalantly.

"He's- First of all, not my boyfriend."

"Yet," interjected Brendon. Tyler ignored him.

"Second of all, you better not make him uncomfortable, and third of all, he's coming soon I think."

"Can't wait," said Brendon, "so what's he like? Besides cute," Tyler glared at Brendon at that.

"Well, he has red hair, and a piercing, he's pretty punk," started Tyler, "He plays the drums and goes to college, and he says he wants to be a drummer. He loves lucky charms and he licks his lips sometimes when he talks. He likes X-Files and probably High School Musical too, considering he sang it w-," Tyler stopped when he saw Brendon looking at him with a weird glint in his eye and a smile, "What?"

"Nothing, just wondering why I wasn't invited to the wedding yet."

"What wedding?" said Patrick from behind Tyler. Tyler was so engrossed in talking about Josh, that he didn't even realize that Patrick had ended his song.

"There's no wedding, that's why you weren't invited," said Tyler trying to hide his blush, "And anyway, even if there was a wedding, you wouldn't be at it."

"Aww, why? I'd make such a great groomsman!"

"You would make a way better flower boy," said Patrick sitting down beside Tyler, "Anyway, what did I miss?"

"Oh, you know, Tyler just talked about Josh for 5 years with this far away look in his eyes," said Brendon with a smile and Tyler kicked him under the table.

"The same far away look he gets when he talks about Taco Bell?" asked Patrick.

"The very same," confirmed Brendon.

Tyler huffed.

"Aww, he must be in love!" said Patrick affectionately which earned him a kick from Tyler too.

"Shut up guys, he's probably not even gay," scoffed Tyler.

"Dude, he sang a duet with you. In the shower. Not to mention, the song was 'Breaking Free'," said Brendon, not convinced.

"Woah, what?" asked Patrick wide-eyed at these news.

"Don't stereotype people, Brendon, the gay boy who says 'no homo' after holding hands with Ryan," said Tyler, ignoring Patrick.

"Can someone tell me why Josh was in the shower with Tyler already," Patrick asked.

Brendon looked behind Tyler.

"You must be Josh, Tyler's boyfriend," he said with a smile. Tyler jumped and turned around, ready to apologize for Brendon, but there was no one there. Brendon laughed loudly.

"You- Don't do that! I didn't even check my hair," Tyler pouted.

"Hello? Can someone tell me why Gabriella here has failed to tell me why Troy showered with her?" Patrick was still trying to bring attention to himself by waving his arms. Brendon was still laughing.

"You should have seen your face," he exclaimed after calming down a little, "Don't worry, you look hot, ten out of ten would bang."

"Please don't," Tyler said and looked around to see if Josh was there yet. His shift started in five minutes.

He scanned his eyes over the crowd, and there was the patch of red hair. Tyler let out and involuntary gasp.

"He's here," he said, then glared at his friends, "Not a word about boyfriends."

"Sure thing, it's closer to husbands anyway," said Brendon with a sigh.

"Is that one him?" asked Patrick and nodding in the direction of Josh, given up on his failed attempts to get information.

"Yeah," said Tyler, his stomach doing flips.

 _Cut it out_ , he told his stomach, mentally.

"Who's that with him?" asked Brendon and Tyler noticed a girl walking beside him. His heart sank, so he was straight. That was probably his girlfriend.

 

|-/

Josh neared the bar. It looked pretty nice from the outside. It looked like a kind of vintage building, with an LED sign above the door with the words "Denial Number 4" written in cursive.

**New message: Josh Dun @ Pepe and Debbs**

6:46pm Josh: where r u guys

6:47pm Debbs: Almost there

6:48pm Pepe: same

6:49pm Josh: r u there yet  
6:50pm Josh: r u there yet  
6:51pm Josh: r u there yet

6:51pm Pepe: chill u thirsty mf

6:52pm Debbs: I have arrived

6:53pm Josh: r u there yet

6:53pm Debbs: r u there yet

6:54pm Josh: r u there yet

6:54pm Debbs: r u there yet

6:55pm Pepe: CHILL MFS IM HERE

 

"The clique is all accounted for," announced Josh as Pete walked over to him and Debby.

"So, will you tell us how you met this 'friend'?" said Debby, adding finger quotations when she said the word friend.

"Yeah, I'm curious too, dude," added Pete, "This is pretty out of the blue."

"I'll tell you in a moment, let's get in, I don't want to miss him or make him think that I ditched him," said Josh and excitedly opened the door as Debby and Pete shrugged at each other.

The first thing Josh thought when he opened the door to the dim lit space was "I picked the right outfit". It wasn't too fancy, and it wasn't too shit either. There was a long mahogany bar stand with red bar stools set out in front of it. Behind the bar stood a couple of barmen, one shaking up a cocktail and the other talking to someone ordering a drink. On the chairs, people sat and talked while sipping on their glasses. Most of them looked like they were having a good time.

Up in the front, there was a stage with a piano and I microphone on it. There was no one there at the moment, and Josh breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't missed Tyler.

There were also a couple of tables scattered around the bar. There were a couple of tables open, but most were taken by people talking.

"Yo this is a cool place," said Pete as he looked around.

"Where is the friend?" asked Debby and Josh looked to find a familiar face in the crowd.

"It's Tyler, by the way," said Josh, still scanning the tables.

"Finally, we get a name," cheered Debby.

"He's my new neighbour," said Josh, "He's pretty cool."

"Is he cute?" asked Pete, eyeing the different bottles lining the shelves behind the bar stand.

"So cute, you have no idea, you'll have to see him," said Josh excitedly.

"JOSH!!" someone shouted and Josh turned his head towards a table closest to the stage.

There was Tyler, (IN A SUIT HOLY SHIT) in the company of two other men, one of which was waving frantically at him.

"Which one is him?" asked Debby.

"The one that looks really hot and is in a suit," said Josh walking towards them.

"So the one in the middle?" asked Pete looking at Patrick.

"No, the one on the far right," said Josh.

"Hi! I'm Brendon!" said Brendon with a smile when Josh and his crew got to the table.

"I'm Josh, that's Debby and that's Pete," Josh introduced himself and his friends. Debby waved and Pete was looking at Patrick.

"I'm Patrick," he said and smiled warmly.

"I'm Pete," said Pete.

"Anyway... Hi Tyler!" said Josh, "When are you going to blow everyone's brains out?"

"Uh... Now actually," Tyler stood up hastily and got on the stage.

Josh sat beside Brendon, who was smiling widely. Pete plopped himself down beside Patrick and Patrick looked a bit uncomfortable by this situation.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," announced Debby and bounced off.

"I've heard so much about you," said Brendon, still grinning.

"Do you have a band-aid?" said Pete.

"Uh, no sorry, are you okay?" asked Patrick, worried.

"That's ok, it's just that I scraped my knees falling for you," said Pete smoothly and Patrick blushed.

"Hello everyone, I'm Tyler and I'll be singing here for the next two hours," Tyler's voice sounded over the bar, "Feel free to request songs, this one's called 'Oh Ms Believer, and I wrote it myself."

Piano filled the room and Tyler sang.

_"Oh Ms. Believer, my pretty sleeper  
Your twisted mind, is like snow on the road."_

Josh's mouth was probably hanging open. The song sounded so beautiful and he was completely entranced by its melody. He couldn't believe that someone could even write that good. Josh didn't notice Brendon trying to talk to him, or Debby coming back with his favourite drink. All that mattered to him was Tyler.

When the song ended, he clapped the loudest. Most other people in the bar were paying attention to Tyler singing.

"If you want to request a song, write it down on the piece of paper over here," said Tyler and pointed at a notebook with a pen beside it.

Josh stood up so fast that he almost knocked over the drink Debby left for him.

"Maybe you should have a drink to cover up that thirst," said Debby and Brendon giggled.

Josh didn't hear them though, he was off to request a song.

"This next one is Take me to Church by Hozier," said Tyler and continued playing.

Josh felt like he floated towards the notebook. He thought about what he should request, there were so many songs that he could put down that would sound beautiful with Tyler singing them.

When he got to the request station, there was already a small line forming. Josh stared at Tyler while waiting for the next person to finish writing their song.

 _"Good God, let me give you my life,"_ Tyler sang as he locked eyes with Josh.

Josh felt like he was about to pass out, that was kind of really hot. His pants felt tighter than before so he forced himself to break the eye contact and scribble down Piano Man by Billy Joel.

Josh made his way back to the table, still in a haze. He had already heard Tyler sing before, but this was different.

Debby and Brendon were talking and laughing about something, while Pete kept making Patrick blush. When Josh sat down, he took a drink.

"Finally, can't believe you didn't die of dehydration right there," snickered Debby.

"I am dead inside, Debby," muttered Josh, "He has wrecked me."

"That's exactly what I told Tyler," said Brendon sipping on a pink cocktail.

"Tyler 360-no-scoped me," said Josh and continued watching Tyler.

He went through a couple of songs until he got to Josh's.

"Here's Piano Man, for Josh," Tyler said and smiled at Josh.

Josh has died and been resurrected.

Then Tyler started singing.

And then Josh died again.

|-/

"Look at him, he's practically melting," said Debby to Brendon.

"I hope we meet again at their wedding, here's my number if you want to shop for wedding clothing together," said Brendon and put his number into her phone.

"I will be sure to text you whenever I hear news, we can fangirl together," giggled Debby.

"Did Josh tell you how they met?" asked Brendon.

"He said they were neighbours," she replied.

"Oh my god, get ready for this story," said Brendon and babbled on excitedly.

|-/

"If I was a cat, I'd spent all 9 lives with you," Pete said.

"How many pickup lines do you have exactly?" asked a slightly flushed Patrick, smiling.

"I haven't even gotten into the dirty ones," grinned Pete.

"Continue," said Patrick.

|-/

When Tyler finished his last song and climbed off the stage, he was met with applause and some people offering him tips. He thanked everyone and collected the money he gained in a hat he brings only for that purpose.

When he got back to the table he was glad to see his friends getting along with Josh's.

"DUDE YOU WERE AMAZING," Josh shouted in awe and gave Tyler a hug, "THAT WAS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER TOUCHED MY EARS!!"

"Thank you so much," Tyler said awkwardly, blushing at the sudden compliment and embrace.

Debby and Brendon giggled and whispered to each other.

"That really was amazing, Tyler" Josh said with a smile and let Tyler go.

"Thanks, I try," Tyler responded shyly. Brendon hummed the wedding song. Tyler gave him a dirty look and Josh giggled.

"I should probably start heading home, it's getting kinda late" Josh says and Tyler nods.

"Yeah, you're right," Tyler agreed.

They stared at each other for a couple moments.

"Gayyyyy," Brendon whispered and Debby, Pete and Patrick laughed.

Josh coughed.

"Well, I'll duet you later then," said Josh with a grin.

"Duet you later," Tyler said and smiled.

Josh turned around, then remembered he forgot something.

"Pete, Debbs, you coming?" he asked.

"No," they said in unison.

"Pete, don't you have an essay that's due tomorrow?"

"DUDE. I'm sorry, Patrick, I have to go, you have my number right," Pete scrambled up from his seat.

"Yeah, I do, see you later," said Patrick, and Pete was gone.

"Wait for me, Pete!" Josh exclaimed and ran after him.

"Well, I'll go too, it's been fun here," said Debby and stood up, "Bye, Brendon, Bye Troy!"

Tyler stared at her and she giggled and left.

"Did you-," started Tyler.

"Yes, I did tell her. She needed to know! She's gonna be the Best Woman at the wedding!" exclaimed Brendon. Tyler hit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO EXCITED FOR NEXT CHAPTER HONESTLY ITS GONNA BE GREAT


	5. Kindergarten Archaeology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wait.
> 
> A rock with googly eyes? That seemed familiar to Tyler. He stepped closer. It couldn't be!
> 
> It was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Josh has a nightmare at the start of this chapter, just a heads up, it might trigger someone so be safe friends. (The nightmare isn't described, but Tyler hears Josh protest about something.)

When Tyler got home from work, it was close to 1 in the morning. Even though his shift ended at 9, him and Patrick stuck around to listen to Brendon sing. When Tyler came to his comforting apartment, lay down on the bed with his laptop.

Tyler was scrolling through tumblr, reblogging some funny textposts and cheer up posts. Suddenly, he heard noises of... What was it? Kind of like fabric flapping around? But it wasn't coming from his room. It sounded like it was coming from the other side of his bedroom wall.

"N-no... Stop it," came a voice.

It was Josh's voice.

Tyler's heart sped up. Was Josh ok? What was happening? Why was he thrashing so wildly? Who was with him? Tyler began to panic.

"Please... No!," Josh whimpered, and Tyler was out of his bed. He didn't bother to change our of his pajamas, or even put shoes on. He had to be there for Josh!

Tyler slammed open his door and knocked wildly on Josh's.

"Uh.. OPEN UP!! IT'S THE POLICE," he shouted the first thing that came to mind. After all, if Josh was really in trouble, he had to scare whoever was in there to open the door.

Tyler heard hurried footsteps from behind the door. The door opened to reveal... A pale Josh.

"Tyler?"

"JOSH! Are you okay!? Who's with you? Do you need any help?"

"Uh... What?"

Tyler didn't see anyone behind Josh. Maybe he imagined hearing things? He felt kind of stupid now and blushed.

"Well, uh, I thought I, um, heard you, like, in distress?" Tyler mumbled, scratching his neck. Maybe he overreacted.

"Oh, I was having a nightmare," Josh said, smiling a little, "I woke up to the 'police' trying to get into my house, you kind of scared me."

"Sorry! I was just... Worried," explained Tyler.

"Well, hello there, Tyler," said Josh and his eyes landed on Tyler's shirt, "Or should I say, hey?"

"Uh, what?"

"Your shirt. Hey."

Tyler looked down at the shirt he was wearing. It said "Say 'Hey' if you're gay!".  
Tyler turned red once again. He was too intent on saving Josh than to even think of changing his shirt.

(Somewhere deep in his mind, he thanked himself for wearing that shirt and did a dance. Now he knew that Josh was interested in boys.)

"Uh, kind of hey too," said Tyler, "I'm demi."

"Hello Demi, I'm Dad," Josh laughed at his own joke. Tyler rolled his eyes.

"Didn't know my daddy was meme trash," blurted Tyler. Josh turned red, and so did Tyler, "That's not what I meant to say."

"Well, son, want to come in?"

"Uh, no, I'm sorry for waking you up, you should go back to sleep," Tyler said guiltily.

"I probably won't be able to fall asleep anyway," said Josh and motioned at Tyler to come in.

"Well, alright," said Tyler and stepped in.

Josh's apartment was similar to his, but a bit cleaner. He had a TV with an organized shelf of DVDs. There was a nice couch with a small coffee table in front of it. More shelves lined the walls. Books, CDs, a rock with googly eyes, a plant...

Wait.

A rock with googly eyes? That seemed familiar to Tyler. He stepped closer. It couldn't be!

It was.

"Is that Spooky Jim?" asked Tyler slowly looking at Josh.

"How did yo-," Josh started, then, "Oh."

"Joshua?"

"Ty-Ty?"

"Oh my fucking God. Josh!" exclaimed Tyler, memories of kindergarten flooding back to him.

|-/

  
_The first day of kindergarten._

_"No mom! Don't make me go here! It's scary!" pleaded Tyler at his mom. He didn't want to go to school. He wanted to keep playing at home and not having a care in the world._

_"You're gonna love it Ty-Ty, there'll be other kids there, and very nice ladies and gentlemen that'll teach you fun things and play games with you," said his mom soothingly. Tyler didn't believe her._

_"I don't believe you!" said Tyler and pouted._

_"Try it once, for mommy," she smiled at him. Tyler loved mommy, and if she wanted him to do this, maybe he could._

_"...Okay, but only once," he said and got out of the car. His mom led him to a group of kids running around._

_"This must be Tyler!" a nice looking woman came up to them with a checklist, "I'm Ms. Greengrass."_

_"My mom calls me Ty-Ty," scoffed Tyler. Ms. Greengrass smiled._

_"Alright, Ty-Ty, come here, you can play with other kids until you hear a bell ring, okay?," she said._

_Tyler didn't really want to let go of mom's hand, but she urged him to go._

_Nervously, he walked towards the kids. A boy with brown hair ran up to him._

_"Hi there! My name is Joshua Dun! Do you want to be friends with me?" he beamed._

_"Okay," Tyler said simply, "I'm Ty-Ty."_

_"Do you want to play tag, Ty-Ty?"_

_Before Tyler could say anything in response, Joshua touched his shoulder and screeched 'you're it!'. And started running._

_That was the start of a strong friendship._

_|-/_

_Josh always carried around stickers. It was just what he did. You never know when you need a good sticker, he'd say to Tyler, and Tyler agreed._

_They were sitting in the sandbox at recess._

_"Look! I made a turtle!" exclaimed Joshua in awe._

_"I dug up skeleton bones," stated Tyler and showed a rock to Josh._

_"Oh my gosh! That's so cool!" he said. Tyler was about to bury the rock back into the sand when Josh pulled out a pack of googly eye stickers._

_"Wait! Give it to me," Josh put on the eyes with a look of concentration in his eyes and his tongue out._

_"Woah!" Tyler sighed as Josh demonstrated the new and improved rock, "We should name it!" he announced._

_"Hmm... What about Jim?" said Josh enthusiastically._

_"But he's a skeleton! It should be something... Spooky!" said Tyler._

_"Spooky Jim!"_

_"Yeah!" agreed Tyler._

_The bell rang. They stood up together and ran toward the school._

_"Let's keep him safe," said Josh as they ran._

_"We'll take turns keeping him safe, okay?" said Tyler._

_"Yeah!" agreed Josh._

_Tyler held Spooky Jim in his small hands when they got into the school._

_"What's this?" asked Ms. Greengrass, pointing at Spooky Jim._

_"That's Spooky Jim," stated Joshua._

_"Oh! Is he your pet rock?" she asked._

_"No, he's our skeleton son," replied Tyler from behind Joshua. Ms. Greengrass looked a bit uncomfortable at that, but didn't say anything._

_|-/_

_There were tears streaming down Joshua's face._

_"A-are you sure you have to leave?" he asked between sobs._

_"Yes," Tyler sighed, "I don't want to go, but mom says it won't be far, so maybe we'll see each other again."_

_Joshua was trying to contain himself, but was failing miserably. It was his first best friend after all._

_Joshua hugged Tyler._

_"M-maybe if you c-come hide at m-my house, you won't l-leave," he suggested._

_"I already asked my mom and she said no," said Tyler, feeling his own tears starting to form._

_"You're my best friend Ty-Ty!" Josh sobbed, "What will I do without you?"_

_Tyler broke the hug and dug into his pocket. He took out Spooky Jim and handed him to Josh. Josh cried harder._

_"Here, Spooky Jim will keep you company until we see each other again," said Tyler, tears starting to roll down his face, that he dried away as soon as they came down, "Take care of him for me, okay?"_

_"O-okay," Joshua managed to say._

_Tyler kissed Joshua on the cheek because it's what he saw people do in movies._

_"Don't cry, okay?," he said, "I'll come back."_

_"Ok. I won't cry," said Josh sniffing and drying his tears, "See you later."_

_Josh smiled at Tyler the best he could._

_"See you later."_

_|-/_

"Holy shit," said Tyler.

"So we did meet again," Josh beamed.

"Well, I promised, didn't I?" said Tyler, looking over Spooky Jim, "You did a very good job of keeping him safe!"

"Thanks, I carried him around at school for a month after you left," said Josh.

"Awww," cooed Tyler.

"Well, wanna watch some X-Files, Ty-Ty?"

"Heck yes!" Tyler giggled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO I LOVE THIS CHAPTER  
> Go poke me on my tumblr, kitteninasock


	6. A Virtual Week

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K so I remembered that parties don't happen on Sunday's so I wrote this chapter as a filler

Tyler opened his eyes, the sun flooding his surroundings.

Wait, this isn't his room.

"Hey," said a voice behind him. Tyler turned around. It was Josh.

Tyler remembered where he was, he must've fallen asleep on the couch yesterday while watching X-Files.

"Hi, sorry for accidentally sleeping over," Tyler said sheepishly and stood up.

"It's fine, I was the one that made you watch X-Files with me."

"But I was the one that woke you up!"

"I would wake up after my nightmare anyway, it was comforting to have you around," said Josh, honestly. Tyler blushed.

"What time is it?," he asked.

"Almost 9," said Josh looking at his phone, "I have to go to class! See you later!"

Josh turned, grabbed a messenger bag and left.

"Bye," called Tyler. He stood up himself and decided that it was kind of creepy to stay in Josh's room when he wasn't there. He opened the door and got home.

**_Monday_ **

**New Message from: Beebo Urie @ Tyler Joseph**

12:45pm Beebo: //photo message//  
12:45pm Beebo: all hail Beebo Urie 2 ;)

12:47pm Tyler: what the actual fuck Brendon

12:47pm Beebo: wat  
12:47pm Beebo: OH  
12:48pm Beebo: TYLER IM SO SORRY  
12:48pm Beebo: THAT WAS MEANT TO GO TO RYAN

12:49pm Tyler: honestly  
12:49pm Tyler: im not even surprised  
12:50pm Tyler: just wondering how it didn't happen before

12:51pm Beebo: IM REALLY SORRY  
12:51pm Beebo: if you send me a pic originally sent to Josh I won't tease you

12:51pm Tyler: as if that would ever happen  
12:52pm Tyler: also if you still have that "problem" please stop talking to me

1:28pm Beebo: can I talk to you now?

1:29pm Tyler: BYE

**New Message from: Best Man @ Best Woman**

2:34pm BM: //link

2:37pm BW: Is that your wedding Pinterest?

2:37pm BM: yep, look at my Joshler Wedding board

2:43pm BW: I love the sparkly suit idea, Josh would love it!!  
2:44pm BW: //link  
2:44pm BW: My Joshler Wedding weheartit collection

2:45pm BM: nice, we're gonna be the best wedding planners

**New message: from Tyler Bolton @ Jish**

5:34pm Tyler: you are v good at banging those drums woah  
5:35pm Tyler: bang bang

6:47pm Jish: drums are not the only thing im good @ banging ;)

6:49pm Tyler: cheeky

6:49pm Jish: ty btw

6:50pm Jish: ive been drumming 4 as long as ever

6:51pm Tyler: i have work  
6:51pm Tyler: later

6:52pm Jish: l8r

**_ Tuesday _ **

**New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

4:26am Jish: do u think that aliens r real

12:23pm Tyler: are you ok

12:35pm Jish: yes  
1:46pm Jish: listen to this //link//

1:47pm Tyler: i dun wanna pause my own music

1:48pm Jish: ;bhu:v7b  
1:48pm Jish: that is not what i meant to type

1:49pm Tyler: i can't even imagin ewhat you meant to type bc that looks like it went horribly wrong

1:50pm Jish: IT WAS SUPPOSED TO SAY BETRAYAL

1:50pm Tyler: it went incredibly wrong

1:51pm Jish: IT DID

1:52pm Tyler: i'll listen to it  
1:55pm Tyler: mcr huh  
1:55pm Tyler: emo trash

1:56pm Jish: tru i am

**New Message: from Debbs Ryan @ Josh and Pepe**

2:40pm Debbs: Hello my name is Debby and I bring you wisdom  
2:40pm Debbs: On today's segment; screaming  
2:41pm Debbs: We all love screaming, don't even try to deny it because I know it's true  
2:42pm Debbs: But screaming isn't something we can do everyday  
2:43pm Debbs: Because if you scream at home someone might think you're getting murdered and call the police, and that's gonna be awkward  
2:43pm Debbs: You can't scream outside because it's not polite

2:43pm Pepe: tell tht 2 th gurl who was scrming outsde my window 4 3 mins

2:44pm Debbs: So the wisdom today is, whenever you have an opportunity to scream, do it  
2:45pm Debbs: Even if you don't usually scream on roller coasters or concerts, scream anyway because you can't scream all the time  
2:46pm Debbs: This has been, Debby wisdom

2:46pm Pepe: wrds 2 live by

2:47pm Josh: one time i hid in the by of a house i thought no one lived in and when they got home they saw me wobbling in their hedges and they yelled and i started screaming

2:48pm Debbs: See that wasn't nice screaming

**New message: from Tyler Bolton @ Jish**

4:54pm Tyler: the x files theme is the funniest thing i've ever seen

4:55pm Jish: tru, its like an official meme

4:55pm Tyler: omfg  
5:36pm Tyler: i'm dancing around my room to your sick beats  
5:42pm Tyler: are you teaching someone?  
5:47pm Tyler: that's super cool

6:32pm Jish: i tutor peeps  
6:33pm Jish: 4 money ;^)

6:33pm Tyler: makes sense

6:34pm Jish: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! R U PLAYING PIANO  
6:38pm Jish: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IS THAT UKULELE  
6:41pm Jish: ok now ur just showing off  
6:41pm Jish: not that im complaining

6:43pm Tyler: I HAVE AN IDEA

6:43pm Jish: go on

6:44pm Tyler: LETS PLAY TOGETHER

6:45pm Jish: !!!!!!!!!!!

6:45pm Tyler: play a beat and I'll add something

6:46pm Jish: but don't you have to go to work

6:46pm Tyler: UGH

**_ Wednesday _ **

**New message: from Beebo Urie @ Tyler**

12:45am Beebo: do you think theres porn for God fucking his son

12:46am Tyler: uh  
12:46am Tyler: that's not a very Christian thought  
12:47am Tyler: do you think you can go to church?

12:47am Beebo: it's a real question

12:48am Tyler: honestly...  
12:48am Tyler: i've come across Noah/Jesus ff

12:49am Beebo: ofc you have

12:49am Tyler: it's a long story  
12:50am Tyler: as loNG AS MY DICK  
12:50am Tyler: AYEEEEEE

12:51am Beebo: so it's a pretty short story right  
12:51am Beebo: I'm looking it up

12:54am Tyler: good luck

**New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

2:12pm Jish: college fucked me up tonight

2:13pm Tyler: up the ass?

2:13pm Jish: yes tyler

2:14pm Tyler: ok josh  
2:14pm Tyler: as long as you used protection

**New Message: from Pete Wentz @ GORGEOUS MAN**

3:27pm Pete: r u wering space pants  
3:28pm Pete: cuz ur ass is out of this world

3:30pm GORGEOUS: Woooahhh

3:31pm Pete: if u were a booger, id pik u 1st

3:32pm GORGEOUS: Wow  
3:32pm GORGEOUS: I'm in love

3:33pm Pete: B)

**New Message: from Tyler Bolton @ Jish**

4:32pm Tyler: we have time to do my idea right

4:33pm Jish: yup

4:37pm Tyler: gimme a beat

5:21pm Jish: THAT WAS SO COOL

5:22pm Tyler: THAT WAS SICK

5:22pm Jish: we should start a band

5:23pm Tyler: dude  
5:23pm Tyler: yes

5:25pm Jish: ill be thinking of a name

5:25pm Tyler: ok ttyl

6:56pm Jish: 2boys1band  
7:38pm Jish: talented and a drummer  
8:44pm Jish: scully crew  
9:39pm Jish: spooky Jim

**_ Thursday _ **

**New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

1:56pm Jish: yo dude wanna come to a party on Saturday, Debby and Pete will be there and you can bring friends too.

2:04pm Tyler: sure!! when is it

2:05pm Jish: starts at 8pm, ends at ????

2:07pm Tyler: looking forward to it!

**New Message: Best Woman @ Best Man**

5:23pm BW: Send me a pic of Tyler  
5:23pm BW: It's important

5:25pm BM: why

5:26pm BW: trust me

5:27pm BM: //pic

5:48pm BW: //pic of Tyler and Josh's face photoshopped onto the "I'm flying Jack!" scene

5:49pm BM: Oh  
5:49pm BM: my  
5:49pm BM: God  
5:50pm BM: That's going in the wedding invites

5:51pm BW: mhm

**_ Friday _ **

**New Message: from Brendon Urie @ Tyler, Josh, Debby, Pete, and Patrick**

4:32pm Brendon: GUYS I JUST GOT THE BEST IDEA

4:33pm Pete: wat

4:33pm Brendon: FULL HOUSE

4:34pm Patrick: Continue

4:34pm Brendon: BUT EVERYONE

4:35pm Debby: mhm

4:35pm Brendon: IS GAY!!!!

4:35pm Josh: IM SOLD

4:36pm Brendon: I haven't even gotten to the BEST PART

4:36pm Josh: oh my god theres more

4:37pm Brendon: ITS CALLED FULL HOMO

4:37pm Tyler: CAN I BE IN THAT SHOW

4:38pm Josh: SAME

4:38pm Pete: count me in

4:38pm Patrick: Me too

4:39pm Debby: IM IN

5:00pm Brendon: great we start shooting Sunday see ya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeyeyeye
> 
> The chats are mostly ones I or friends had Irl, because my brain can't create scenarios.
> 
> Credit to aceofmemes for helping me get through this agony of a chapter


	7. The Author is A Slut For Party Games in Fics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tyler got to the address, he could clearly see which house the party was in. There was a big sign that said "The Party”. Tyler raised his eyebrows at the sign, amused. That was something he had never seen before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T POST FOR LIKE A WEEK  
> I HAVE NO EXCUSE  
> ALSO ALCOHOL MENTION GUYS, TYLER GETS A LIL DRUNK  
> stay safe |-/

_ **Saturday** _

**New Message: from Tyler @ Beebo and Patrick**

12:34pm Tyler: come to this party Josh invited me to  
12:34pm Tyler: it's at 8

12:41pm Beebo: ok

12:42pm Patrick: Who's gonna be there

12:42pm Tyler: pete will be there

12:43pm Patrick: I'm in!

12:44pm Beebo: please get a drink, thirsty much

 12:44pm Patrick: St op

12:45pm Beebo: it's true and you know it  
12:45pm Beebo: I'm bringing Ryan ok

12:46pm Tyler: aight

**New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

5:34pm Jish: u still coming right

5:32pm Tyler: right

|-/

As the party grew closer, Tyler felt more and more excited to see Josh. He wasn't usually the person to go to parties, but today, he thought he could make an exception.

Tyler looked over the clothes in his closet, searching for the right one. He decided on a pink button up and jeans.

**New Message from: Tyler Bolton @ Jish**

7:15pm Tyler: quick question  
7:15pm Tyler: where is the party

7:16pm Jish: o yeah whoops  
7:17pm Jish: //address//

7:18pm Tyler: ty

|-/

When Tyler got to the address, he could clearly see which house the party was in. There was a big sign that said "The Party”. Tyler raised his eyebrows at the sign, amused. That was something he had never seen before.

**New Message: from Tyler Joseph @ Josh, Debby, Pete, Patrick and Brendon**

7:57pm Tyler: who's here

7:57pm Pete: r u kiddng i hve 2 b fashnbly l8

7:57pm Patrick: I'm here.

7:58pm Pete: ok ill hrry up

7:58pm Brendon: here w/ Ryan

7:59pm Josh: im almost there which means debby is almost there

Tyler stood at the sign, waiting for Josh to arrive. A couple of people passed him and went into the house while he waited. Finally, he saw someone with red hair and a girl coming towards him.

"Hey," greeted Josh, _and, oh my God, was he wearing eyeshadow?_

"Yo," said Tyler. Debby waved at him.

"So, let's go in!" she said excitedly.

They walked in to the moderately loud rapping by Nicki Minaj.

The furniture was pressed to the walls so that there would be a space in the middle of the room. There were a couple of people sitting on the couches and there were at least two cups of beer strewn across the floor.

"I'm going to go look for Brendon," said Debby and walked away, leaving Josh and Tyler alone (but not really because there was a couple making out loudly behind them).

"I like your eyeshadow," said Tyler, "It matches your hair."

"Thanks!" said Josh and opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Patrick.

"Hey guys!" he said as he approached them, "Do you like cherries?"

“Yeah!" exclaimed Josh.

“That’s a weird question, but yeah," said Tyler, "Why?"

"Come here," giggled Patrick, looking like he’d already had a little to drink and waved at them to follow him.

The two followed Patrick through the hall into a kitchen. There were several people looking through the fridge. A small group was standing around a table. Patrick motioned at Tyler and Josh to stand with the group.

"That should be enough people," muttered Patrick and then said, "Everyone here has told me they like cherries!”

“I never said I liked them, I got dragged here,” muttered a boy with brown hair. Patrick ignored him.

“Loosen up, Dan,” whispered the brown-haired boy’s friend.

"Well, my challenge for you guys, is to eat cherries,” he continued.

Patrick took out bowls and layers them out in front of everyone. He put one cherry in each bowl.

"Eat the cherry first, without using your hands, and you win!" said Patrick smiling.

"That sounds easy," said a girl with blue hair and some really nice cheekbones.

Patrick smiled at her and took out whipped cream. He filled each bowl with it.

"Find the cherry in the whipped cream, no hands, first person to eat wins! Go!" said Patrick.

The strategies differed for each person playing. Josh put his whole head into the bowl right away, while Tyler was trying to swallow all of the cream. The blue haired girl was trying to find the cherry with her foot.

"Done!" screamed Josh, taking his face off the plate. His face was covered in whipped cream and Tyler laughed. Josh looked at him and started laughing too.

"Congrats, Josh!" announced Patrick, "You win... Drumroll please."

Everyone hit the table repeatedly to make it sound like drums. Patrick took out a bottle of vodka.

"A shot!" said Patrick and poured the clear drink into a shot glass. Josh immediately took it and downed it. Everyone cheered and began leaving.

"Hey! Patrick!" came a voice from behind them. It was Pete.

"Hey," said Patrick and smiled.

"Your daddy must be a drug dealer, cause you are dope," said Pete smirking. Patrick rolled his eyes.

"How have you not run out yet?" asked Josh, but he wasn't answered.

"LET'S PLAY SPIN THE BOTTLE!" came a scream, sounding suspiciously like Brendon from the main room. The group went into the living room, where people were already crowding and sitting in a circle.

Tyler and Josh sat beside each other in between the blue haired girl and Brendon.

“I’ll start!” called Pete and reached for the bottle. He spun it and it landed on Patrick. Patrick looked like he was going to explode and Pete smirked at him as he leaned in and kissed Patrick. Pete took his time. Cheers and whistles sounded.

“How much do you want to bet Pete rigged the bottle?” asked Josh, elbowing Tyler. Tyler giggled.

“My turn!” said the girl with blue hair, and spun. The bottle pointed at Debby.

Debby scooted closer to the girl with blue hair.

“Hi, I’m Debby,” she said.

“Call me Halsey,” said Halsey and met Debby’s lips.

People spun, and people kissed. Tyler tried to learn everyone’s names; Jenna, Halsey, Dan, Haley, Alex, Jack, Phil…

“Tyler!”

No, he already knew that name, that was his.

“Tyler, it’s your turn!” Tyler started.

“Oh! Uh, ok,” he said and spun the bottle quickly.

It circled once.

Twice.

Then it slowed.

Tyler heart beat fast, it was about to stop on Josh.

And…

It landed on…

“Well, Tyler, prepare to be blown away,” smirked Brendon and scooted closer to Tyler.

“Oh my God, never say that,” said Tyler.

“The only person who can be blown away is me, Brendon,” said Ryan. The circle giggled.

Brendon grabbed Tyler and kissed him dramatically, dipping Tyler down as if they were dancing the tango. Even though it looked extremely dramatic, it was only a small peck and lasted less than a second.

Brendon pulled away, pushing his hair back.

“Have I swept you off your feet?” Brendon asked, and Tyler decided to lay along, still laying on Brendon’s arm. He pretended to swoon.

“Little ol’ me has never experienced anything like that!” giggled Tyler in a higher pitched voice. Everyone laughed, and Tyler and Brendon got back to their spots.

Tyler noticed that Josh was staring weirdly at Brendon.

“You okay, Josh?” asked Tyler and Josh looked at him. Josh smiled.

“Yeah… Look! It’s my turn!” he said and spun.

Josh stared at the bottle intently. It whirled around the circle.

Tyler stopped breathing.

It was pointing at him.

He looked at Josh nervously and Josh smirked.

Brendon and Debby screamed.

Josh leaned over and Tyler could feel his breath on his face. They were so close and Tyler thought he was going to die.

_holyshitholyshitholyshitimgonnakissjoshohmyfuckinggod_

Josh tilted his head and held Tyler’s head in his hands to tilt it the other way. Tyler felt as if he was on a roller coaster, ascending up very slowly up the hill before a very high drop. Tyler felt as if he was at a concert, right before the band came on. Tyler’s blood boiled and his heart felt like it was going to give out.

_HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITIMGONNAKISSJOSHOHMYFUCKINGGOD_

Their lips locked together. His eyelids fell closed. Josh’s lips were soft and tasted a little like whipped cream. The roller coaster finally shot down. The band finally came onto stage.

Tyler was pretty sure he wasn’t going to survive this.

Tyler returned the kiss greedily. His hand snaked up to Josh’s red hair and he tugged. Josh gasped and Tyler slipped his tongue in. Josh tasted like cherries.

Josh moved away, and Tyler nearly whimpered. Then, Josh came back for another kiss, clicking their teeth together. It was kind of painful, but they didn’t really care.

|-/

Brendon was crying. Debby was still screaming.

“It finally happened,” sobbed Brendon.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA,” screamed Debby.

No one in the circle was sure why Brendon and Debby were doing, but some of them had gotten snacks.

“Look, they’re grinding on each other now,” said Patrick absentmindedly.

“We should do that sometime,” said Pete and Patrick nodded.

“Maybe we should just continue without them?” Halsey suggested.

The group nodded and someone spun the bottle.

|-/

Tyler pressed closer to Josh, their hips touching. Josh gasped and ground down on Tyler harder. Tyler made a sound that made him remember that he was in a room full of people and pulled away, blushing.

Josh stared at Tyler and Tyler stared back. Tyler noticed how red Josh’s lips were now and it made him want to kiss Josh again. Tyler took note of how pretty Josh’s eyes were, coated in red eyeshadow.

“Well, hey there,” Josh’s voice was deeper than usual, Tyler noted.

“Uh, yeah, hey,” said Tyler continuing to look at Josh.

“I can’t believe it happened Ryan,” said Brendon trough tears. Ryan petted Brendon’s hair.

Debby breathed heavily.

“Uh,” said Tyler looking at the circle, Haley was kissing Pete.

“Hey, they’re done!” announced the man Tyler remembered as Alex.

Both Josh and Tyler turned red.

“Did we really take that long?” asked Josh sheepishly. Everyone nodded.

Brendon wiped away his tears.

“Now that we all know each other, let’s play truth or dare,” he announced and others nodded.

“I’ll start,” said Debby, her voice a little hoarse, “Patrick!”

“Uhh, Dare,” said Patrick and Debby smiled sweetly.

“I dare you… to give Pete a hickey!”

Patrick turned red and leaned over and began licking and biting Pete’s neck. Pete looked like he was having the time of his life.

Whistles erupted from a couple of people.

Tyler watched Patrick for maybe 5 seconds and then decided Josh was a much nicer thing to look at.

“Hey Tyler,” said Josh.

“Yes, Joshua?”

“We should do that thing more often.”

“I agree.”

“So… like.. um…,” Josh muttered, “Do yo-“

“Josh!” Josh was interrupted by Patrick.

“What?”

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare!”

“I dare you to buy a pizza for all of us!”

“PIZZA?” shouted Pete suddenly.

“Yes, pizza, you can choose the toppings,” said Patrick, “Just tell Josh.”

“Okay, give me a moment,” said Josh and took out his phone. He tapped it a couple of times, “What toppings, Pete?”

“OKAY GET PEPPERONI, GROUND BEEF, MUSHROOMS, PINEAPPLE, EXTRA FUCKIN’ CHEESE,” Pete listed to Josh.

“You sure mushrooms and pineapple gonna go well together?” asked Josh and was immediately shushed by Pete.

“Listen, boy. I know what I’m talking about,” he said, “Don’t even play with me.”

“Remember the time wh-“

“No, it was good pizza and you guys are the weird ones.”

“I’m gonna get two pizzas.”

“Your loss.”

“Okay…” Josh tapped a couple more times, “And done!”

Josh sat back and looked at Tyler.

“Tyler, truth or dare?”

“Um, dare,” replied Tyler.

“I dare you to go on a date with me,” said Josh.

Brendon and Debby began screaming again.

_Wait what?_

“What?” asked Tyler, thinking he misheard. Did Josh actually just ask him out? It sounded too good to be true, so Tyler probably misheard. Definitely.

“I said, I dare you to go on a date with me,” Josh repeated.

“Uh, okay, but I need details,” Tyler said smiling.

“We’ll talk about the details later,” said Josh.

People cheered.

“Wait they weren’t dating?” asked Jenna, poking Hayley.

“I guess not?” said Hayley.

“Okay, so it’s my turn now?” Tyler asked no one in particular, “Dan?”

“Dare,” said the brunette confidently.

“I dare you to watch porn containing a whisk.”

|-/

The game continued on, everyone was enjoying themselves. The pizza Pete had requested turned out to be surprising okay. Definitely not like the last time Pete chose the toppings.

When the pizza man brought the food, Pete was the first at the door. It reminded Josh of a dog waiting for its owner. You could practically see him wagging his tail.

“You are so beautiful,” Pete had muttered to the pizza in his hand, “Gorgeous, delicious…”

“Stop whispering sweet nothings to the pizza, Pete, it’s weird.”

“Let me live, Patrick,” he said and swallowed a whole slice in 10 seconds, “And for the record, I like you more than pizza.”

“Did you just proclaim your undying love for me?”

“Something like that.”

|-/

“Tyler!” said a slightly drunk Ryan.

“Wha- oh, dare!” said Tyler, slurring a little after a dare involving shots.

“I… Dare you… To strip to a song of Brendon’s choice!” Ryan said giggling. Brendon perked up at the sound of his name and grinned.

“Okay!” Tyler agreed easily, “What’s my song, Brendon?”

Josh stared wide-eyed and sober (as he was the DD for Debby) at Tyler. He knew that Tyler would regret that decision in the morning when he remembered it (not to mention that Josh might never recover from such an experience).

“Hey, Tyler, are you sure?” he asked him cautiously.

“It’s a dare man!” said Tyler drawing out the word “dare”, “I have to do it!”

“Your song is Pour Some Sugar On Me!” exclaimed Brendon and turned it on.

The first cords played and Tyler stood up shakily. He got up and began slowly dancing. Josh wanted to look away, scared that an unwanted guest could make an appearance, but it was too hard.

 _Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on_  
_Livin' like a lover with a radar phone_

Tyler took off his socks first giggling.

 _Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light_  
_Television lover, baby, go all night_

Tyler unbuttoned the first button of his shirt. Josh swallowed heavily.

 _C'mon, take a bottle, shake it up_  
_Break the bubble, break it up_

Tyler toyed with his belt and wiggled his butt. Brendon whistled and the unwanted guest was definitely making an appearance.

 _Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ooh, in the name of love_

Tyler slowly unbuttoned his shirt completely.

 _Pour some sugar on me_  
_C'mon, fire me up_

The shirt was on the floor. Josh took notice of Tyler’s tattoos. They were so pretty. Josh was also sweating, and his pants were too tight. Someone threw money at Tyler and several people laughed at that.

 _Pour your sugar on me_  
_Oh, I can't get enough_

Tyler unbuttoned his pants, making eye contact with Josh. More whistles could be heard.

 _I'm hot, sticky sweet_  
_From my head to my feet, yeah_

The pants were off and Tyler was reaching for his boxers. Cheers erupted and Tyler laughed. Even though Josh would love to see what’s under there, he wasn’t going to let Tyler do that.

“Tyler, wait!” said Josh and stopped Tyler’s hands. Brendon groaned in disappointment and put away his phone.

“Aww, why,” whined Tyler.

“The dare didn’t say you had to strip fully,” said Josh quickly.

“But I wanted to,” said Tyler and wobbled in his stance.

“Maybe we should get you home, how’s that?”

“Mom, no,” said Tyler, stretching out the ‘o’ in “no”.

“Let’s go,” said Josh and handed Tyler his clothes. Tyler started putting on his clothes, frowning.

“What about me, Josh?” said Debby with a pout.

“Get a cab,” said Josh and waited for Tyler to finish buttoning his shirt.

Tyler finished and gave Josh a happy thumbs up.

“We’re going now, see you guys!” waved Josh and took Tyler by the arm and they went outside.

“Aww, where did “The Party” go?” said Tyler sadly.

“What?”

“There was a big sign right here!” exclaimed Tyler pointing at the lawn.

“It’s right there Tyler,” said Josh pointing in the other direction.

“It moved!!” Tyler protested.

“Okay, get in the car,” said Josh opening the car door for Tyler.

“Thank you sir,” Tyler giggled.

“Anything for you m’lady,” Josh played along.

Tyler got in and Josh helped him put on the seatbelt. Tyler looked at Josh as he was getting strapped in.

“Josh.”

“Yes, Tyler?”

“Do you need any help?”

“Help with what, Tyler?”

“Your boner.”

Josh turned red, he had hoped no one would notice.

“Don’t worry about that Tyler.”

“But I want to help!”

“Not today, when you’re sober.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?"

Now that Tyler mentioned it, it was kind of extremely uncomfortable.

“I’m okay,” Josh reassured him and walked towards his side of the car.

Josh started the car and began driving.

“Are you sure Josh?”

“I’m sure.”

Josh almost crashed the car when he felt a hand on his thigh.

“Are you sure you’re sure?”

“I’m sure I’m sure,” replied Josh shakily, gripping the steering wheel.

Josh was really thankful that the streets were empty at this time of night when he suddenly hit the breaks.

“Tyler!” exclaimed Josh.

“Yes?” he asked innocently.

“P-please get your hand off of my dick,” said Josh, trying his best not to buck up into Tyler’s hand.

“Why?”

“I can’t drive like this.”

“Then don’t.”

“Tyler,” he said sternly and Tyler’s hand slid off of him.

As much as Josh would love that hand where it was just moments ago, he would like to get them home safely. Also, Tyler was drunk and Josh couldn’t do that if he wasn’t sober.

“Let’s get home first,” said Josh and continued driving, it was a little difficult, but he managed.

Tyler was weirdly silent for a couple of minutes and Josh became suspicious. He looked over and realized that was because he was asleep.

Josh made extra sure of driving around potholes.

“Why are my taxes not going to fixing all these holes,” Josh muttered, "Fucking thanks, Obama."

|-/

“Tyler!” Josh said shaking Tyler awake, “We’re here”

“5 more minutes mom…,” Tyler grunted.

“Just come up and you’ll get into a big cozy bed.”

At that, Tyler opened his eyes lazily.

“Carry me to my bed like a prince.”

Josh laughed.

“No come on, get up.”

“I’m serious!” pouted Tyler.

Josh sighed and gave in. He squeezed his hands under Tyler and picked him up. Tyler giggled (what a giggly drunk).

“I’m like your bride,” he announced.

Josh carried Tyler up three flights of stairs before he put him down.

“You walk the rest, I’m getting tired myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poke me on tumblr if I disappear off the face of Earth.  
> kitteninasock.tumblr.com that's me  
> Also, yes I added Dan and Phil.  
> Why?  
> Why not?  
> (the real reason is that I couldn't think of more emo characters to add, mcr was mentioned as someone they listened to)


	8. Small (Big?) Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4:04am Beebo: I will not tease you as promised
> 
> 1:23pm Ty: what are you on about
> 
> 1:24pm Beebo: poor soul
> 
> 1:24pm Beebo: you must not remember
> 
> 1:24pm Ty: what
> 
> 1:25pm Beebo: check the group chat :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER, I PROMISE NEXT ONE WILL BE LONGER AND CUTER! Basically, school started and now im dead and it's p hard to write fics from hell.  
> ALSO I SAW TOP YESTERDAY AND THEY WERE SO GOO D OMFG (even if i feel a lil more weird writing this fic now that i've seen them irl)

Tyler woke up with a groan and a killer migraine. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He had, thankfully, made it to his apartment. Memories were hazy and he needed some water immediately.

Tyler raised himself up from the bed and decided that he also needed a shower. He managed to walk to the tap and filled a glass with water. As he drank it down, he noticed his phone on the counter as it buzzed repeatedly.

“What’s Brendon on about now?,” muttered Tyler to himself as he picked his phone up and noticed a lot of missed messages.

**New Message: from Beebo @ Ty**

4:04am Beebo: I will not tease you as promised

1:23pm Ty: what are you on about

1:24pm Beebo: poor soul  
1:24pm Beebo: you must not remember

1:24pm Ty: what

1:25pm Beebo: check the group chat :)

Tyler was confused, and a bit scared to look at the chat.

**Tyler’s Chat with Josh, Brendon, Debby, Pete, and Patrick**

3:56am Tyler: //picture//  
3:56am Tyler: hearing you makes me like this ;)

4:02am Patrick: T y ler n o

4:04am Pete: omfg trick u wre rite

4:05am Debby: W HA T

4:05am Brendon: it’s not a bad dick

4:06am Debby: TYLER WHAT DID YOU HEAR

4:06am Patrick: Well, this is something I never expected to see  
4:06am Patrick: It would be understandable if I got one from Brendon

4:07am Pete: or me

4:07am Patrick: I thought you were higher than this, Tyler.

4:07am Brendon: are you saying I’m low

4:08am Patrick: You know it’s true.

4:08am Brendon: …

4:09am Debby: BUT WHAT DID TYLER HEAR

4:09am Pete: obvi joshua rubbin 1 out

4:09am Patrick: Yeah, Josh did look very uncomfortable when he left.

4:09am Brendon: caN YOU NOT USE THAT TERM  
4:10am Brendon: ID LITERALLY RATHER HEAR SOMEONE SAY MILK THE EEL THAN RUB ONE OUT  
4:10am Brendon: WTF YOU RUBBING OUT??? WHY ONLY ONE?? WTF

4:11am Pete: milk the eel  
4:11am Pete: lmaooooo

4:11am Debby: I cannot believe ths

4:12am Pete: im gonna go back 2 milking tricks eel  
4:12am Pete: l8r sk8rs

12:49pm Josh: wow ok

12:50pm Brendon: not a bad dick right

12:50pm Josh: tru

1:12pm Debby: J O S H WHAT WERE YOU DOING YESTERdAY

1:14pm Josh: uh  
1:14pm Josh: sleeping?

1:15pm Debby: I thought you were pure

1:15pm Josh: sorry mom

1:26pm Tyler: im so sorry to everyone involved in this  
1:26pm Tyler: im never drinking again

1:27pm Josh: i mean  
1:27pm Josh: i was ok with that

1:28pm Debby: I was not

1:28pm Tyler: im so so sorry

Tyler was extremely embarrassed, felt gross, and had a migraine, all at the same time. Drinking was definitely being stopped. He was still not sure what happened that night, and kind of wanted it to come back. What did he hear? Tyler decided on a shower.

He went into the bathroom, hearing the tap running on the other side. Him and Josh usually took showers together in the morning, so that was expected (even though it was far past morning). Would they still duet? Even after that incident?

Tyler was about to turn on his own water when he heard Josh start singing.

“I’m hot, sticky sweet!” he sang.

Tyler smiled to himself and sang along, turning on the shower.

As they progressed into the song, Tyler’s hazy memories, became not so hazy.

He remembered kissing Josh during spin the bottle, he remembered Josh daring him to go out with him, he remembered the dare that made him more than a little tipsy. Unfortunately, he also remembered where the song they were currently singing came in.

“Pour some sugar on me!”

He also remembered what brought him to send his picture.

When Tyler stumbled into his room, last night, he remembered wanting to go to bed right away. What stopped him, were the moans he heard as he went to take his before bed pee (how he was smart enough to remember to pee while drunk, was a mystery to him).

He didn’t usually like people that way, but Josh was something else. Tyler had an extreme infatuation with Josh, just thinking about him made his heart flutter. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t had a crush in quite a while. The last one he can remember was a girl named Jenna, back in high school. That didn’t work out very well though, as she turned out to be very gay.

The duet finished their second song and Tyler turned off his tap.

“Hey, dude!” Josh said through the wall.

“Yeah?” shouted Tyler.

“You still have to complete my dare!”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s go tomorrow at 3!”

“Okay! Where?”

“It’ll be a surprise!”

“Sick!”

“Yeah, it’s super sick!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update asap, but may be next week again because school and i'm not very organized


	9. Flower Crowns and Why Sex on Swings is Problematic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey! Ready to fulfill your dare?” Josh grinned.
> 
> “Definitely,” nodded Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I M S O S OR R Y IJSAHDAKHAJHDJSSAJAKKA  
> i finally wrote this, you can come at me with pitchforks if you want, this took way too long (bc I procrastinate sO MUCH ITS TERRIBLE)  
> Anyway, enjoy this, there's mild homophobia so be safe friends |-/

**New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler**

3:00pm Jish: meet me in the corridor

3:00pm Tyler: ye

Tyler opened his door and was instantly greeted by Josh.

“Hey! Ready to fulfill your dare?” Josh grinned.

“Definitely,” nodded Tyler. Josh took Tyler’s hand and led him to the staircase.

“Where are we going?” asked Tyler. Josh looked extremely excited, wherever it was.

“It’s somewhere we’ve been before!” Josh said and looked back at Tyler, smiling, “That’s your only hint.”

Tyler thought about where Josh was taking him as they walked down the numerous flights of stairs. There haven’t been many places they’ve been to together.

“So, what happened since you moved away?” Josh asked as they walked, not giving Tyler time to think about the possible place of their date.

“Well, school happened, I did basketball and went to Taco Bell a lot,” Tyler shrugged.

“Same, but I didn’t do basketball,” said Josh, “I did band and Taco Bell.”

“Dude, what’s your favourite at Taco Bell?”

“Uh, like, everything,” Josh laughed, “I usually get a party pack of tacos and throw a taco party with myself.”

“Can I join your next taco party?” asked Tyler.

“Definitely, but we’ll need two party packs.”

Josh let go of Tyler’s hand as they reached the exit and held the door open for Tyler.

As soon as Tyler walked out, Josh’s hand was back and Josh’s head was up, looking at the sky.

“It’s very nice weather for what we’re doing today,” he noted.

“Is it far away?” asked Tyler as they began walking down the street, walking past the parking garage.

“It’s pretty close,” said Josh, looking at Tyler, “You’ll love it!”

Tyler looked at Josh who was beaming at Tyler. Josh was the most adorable person that Tyler had ever met, he decided.

“You know what the best meme is?” Josh asked.

“I have a vague idea,” Tyler replied.

“The skeleton war meme, hands down.”

“Really? I was thinking Pepe.”

“Are you kidding me? Pepe can’t even come close to the skeleton war, it’s got all the good meme qualities, it doesn’t get old because it’s only there one month every year.”

“Pepe doesn’t get old either! All the rare Pepes are different!”

“Tyler, no. The skeleton war adds excitement to Halloween, it’s funny, it even has its own song.”

“Ok, maybe you’ve got a po-,” Tyler was cut off by the rustling in the grass on the side of the sidewalk, he kneeled down and gasped.

“What did you find?” asked Josh kneeling down beside Tyler. Tyler’s hands were closed and he looked at Josh proudly.

“Behold! My new friend, he will not hurt you,” Tyler said as he revealed a frog in his hands.

“You found the rarest Pepe!” Josh exclaimed. Tyler took out his phone and handed it to Josh.

“Take a picture of me with my new friend!” said Tyler and posed, bringing the frog closer to his face. Josh took a picture and showed it to Tyler.

“You look so cute!” cooed Josh and Tyler evaluated the photo.

“I’m gonna Instagram that later,” Tyler decided. He fiddled with his phone and got an idea.

“Josh, look at this art,” he said and handed Josh his phone.

“This is the front camera.”

“You’re the art, bro.”

“You stole that from Tumblr,” Josh said accusingly, still smiling. Tyler shrugged.

“It’s true,” Tyler defended himself. Josh walked ahead.

“We’re here!” Josh said excitedly, pointing. Tyler looked where he was pointing, it was a playground. There wasn’t anyone there, it was a small playground. There was one normal swing, and one baby swing. There was also a slide with multiple types of entrances, and some yellow monkey bars.

“You’re a nerd, Joshua.”

“I call the swings!” Josh shouted and sprinted towards the one swing.

“Hey! No fair!” Tyler cried and ran after Josh. Tyler was faster than Josh, but with the head start that Josh began with, he got there first.

“Victory!” Josh chimed triumphantly and Tyler fell to his knees, shaking his fist at the sky.

“I have brought dishonour to my family, how will I ever face anyone again?” he said dramatically. Josh laughed as he swayed on the swings.

“You can have that one,” Josh said, motioning to the baby swing.

“I’ll never fit in that,” Tyler scoffed and stood up.

“Not with that attitude.”

“…And if I do, you’ll have to call the fire department to get them to use huge scissors to get me out of it!”

“I have an idea, you can climb on to me and we can swing together,” Josh said, “You know, like the swinging spider?"

“I don’t know if I’m ready to bring our relationship to that kind of intimacy yet, Joshua, I am not an easy boy!”

“Do I have to remind you of Saturday?”

“That was my evil twin!”

“Right…,” said Josh, rolling his eyes, “Then you can have the baby swing.”

Tyler eyed the baby swing, and then Josh. He came closer to Josh and swung his leg through the space between Josh’s body and the chain handle. With one leg already on Josh, he transferred his body weight on Josh to get his other leg through.

“I think I’m gonna fall,” stated Josh as Tyler tried to maneuver his leg in the way he wanted.

“Shush, let me get in position,” Tyler said and finally got his leg in the right place.

“I’m definitely going to fall,” said Josh, already sliding off slightly.

“This was your idea in the first place,” huffed Tyler, “You make such a bad base.”

“I’ll admit, I’m not used to being a bottom,” said Josh, grinning. Tyler gave him the best eye roll Tyler could muster, and began wiggling his feet in an attempt to start swinging.

“Don’t do that, I’m going to fall any second now!” said Josh frantically, holding onto the chains, “This is much less romantic than I imagined it to be.”

“I don’t think I can get off, you better find a way to make this more romantic,” said Tyler, and Josh accepted his challenge. He leaned up and locked their lips together. Tyler decided that Josh completed his challenge.

The kiss was just as good, or maybe more, than their first. This time, Josh tasted more like… Tea? Their lips slid against each other and Josh sighed. Tyler bit down gently and Josh’s sigh turned into a groan. Josh licked Tyler’s lower lip and Tyler opened his mouth. Josh let go of the chains to run them through Tyler’s hair.

That was a mistake.

Tyler leaned into Josh and they fell down together with a mutual shriek.

“I guess you fell for me,” said Josh, looking up at Tyler. Tyler rolled off of Josh. They stared at each other for a moment and then exploded with laughter.

“That was definitely much less romantic as I imagined,” said Josh through wheezes.

Tyler stood up and patted away the dust on his jeans. He eyed the slide.

“I’m gonna climb that,” Tyler stated and ran towards it.

“Don’t slip!” shouted Josh, still laying on the ground.

Tyler ran up the slide, his floral vans having a surprisingly alright grip. He reached the top and raised his arms in a victorious fashion.

Josh was standing up and looking at Tyler.

“Josh, look at me! I’m the king of the castle!” Tyler exclaimed, looking down.

“He speaks! Oh, speak again bright angel!” Josh giggled.

“Oh, Josheo, Josheo! Wherefore art thou Josheo?” Tyler played along.

“Ay, Tyliet, I’m right here,” Josh pointed at himself and headed toward the staircase that lead up onto the slide.

“I asked why are you Josheo, not where are you,” Tyler said, crossing his arms.

“I thought you were the drop-out, not me,” Josh said sarcastically.

“I didn’t drop out in grade 8, dude,” Tyler rolled his eyes, “I did graduate high school.”

“Whatever, man, I bet you can’t hang on the monkey bars as long as I can,” said Josh and stuck his tongue out at Tyler.

“I bet I can,” Tyler said and slid down the slide with a “wee!”.

“Prove it then,” challenged Josh and slid after Tyler.

They walked toward the bars. They weren’t very high up, but if both of them folded their legs, they could hang from them. Both of them got a good grip on the metal.

“Three, two,” Josh counted down, “One… Go!”

The two of them lifted their feet off the ground and stared at each other aggressively.

“If you can win a staring contest, you get extra points!” said Tyler.

Josh looked him in the eyes. Tyler realized he had made a mistake, Josh was clearly having no trouble keeping his eyes open and hanging at the same time. Tyler’s breathing became heavier, he wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes open for very long. Tyler suddenly had an idea.

“Josh,” Tyler said slowly.

“Yeah?”

“What do ghosts..”

“Tyler, no.”

“Eat for dinner?”

“I know what you’re doing, and I don’t want to know."

“S…”

“This is cheating.”

“Spooketti.”

Josh looked as if he was going to explode, he was trying not to laugh, because he knew that if he did, he was probably going to blink and lose the staring contest.

“Spooketti,” Tyler said, slower.

That was the last straw. Josh erupted in giggles and Tyler won the staring contest. Tyler let go of the monkey bars and watched Josh laugh, and soon started laughing too.

“Spoo- Spooketti!” Josh repeated, “That’s quality comedy.”

Josh’s giggles subsided and he looked at Tyler. Josh immediately smirked, and lowered himself from the monkey bars.

“Guess I won the main challenge,” he said. Tyler’s mouth hung open, he kinda completely forgot about that part.

“I won the staring contest,” Tyler defended himself.

“By cheating!” said Josh in fake accusation.

“Ok, so maybe you are the real winner,” said Tyler, defeated.

“Do I get a prize?” Josh asked. Tyler thought for a little.

“Yep,” Tyler leaned down and kissed Josh on the cheek.

“Aww,” Josh cradled his cheek, blushing a little, “I guess your win should be counted too, there were no rules against jokes.”

Josh leaned over to Tyler and kissed him on the corner of his mouth.

“Are you guys married?” came a voice from below them. Josh looked at who said that and smiled at the little girl that was standing in front of them.

“Not yet, but that’s the plan,” he said.

“Your hair is funky!” the little girl exclaimed.

“Thanks!”

“Are you an alien?”

“Of course!”

“Is that why your hair is funky?”

“You got it! But, shh,” Josh put his finger on his lip, “That’s a secret, if anyone asks, say I dyed it!”

“Okay, that’s cool!”

“Pinky promise?” Josh asked and held out hid pinky to the girl.

“Pinky promise,” the girl answered and hooked her pinky around Josh’s, “I’m Ashley.”

“Nice to meet you, Ashley, I’m Josh.”

“Ashley!” a woman, presumably Ashley’s mom, shouted, “Come here!”

“Mom! Come meet Josh the not-alien! He’s totally human!”

The mother came over to them.

“Sorry about that, she bothers everyone she sees,” she said.

“No, it’s fine! She didn’t bother us at all!” Josh assured her.

“Yeah, mom! I was just talking to Josh the human with dyed hair and his future husband,” the girl told her mom, crossing her arms. Tyler blushed.

“Oh, um, alright, Ashley we have to go now,” the woman’s voice became colder. Tyler gave Josh a look and Josh shrugged.

“But mom! I want to play with my friend,” Ashley whined. Her mom took Ashley’s arm and tugged her away.

“Those kinds of people aren’t friends,” she scoffed, “Nor are they even human!”

“How did you know that Josh wasn’t human?” Ashley gasped, then turned to Josh looking sad, “I’m sorry Josh, she figured it out by herself.”

Josh gave Ashley an apologetic smile. Tyler glared at her mother and took Josh’s hand and led him away from the playground.

“How do people like that even exist anymore?” Tyler fumed.

“I don’t know, man,” said Josh sadly, “I hope Ashley grows up okay.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know what I would’ve done if my parents weren’t supportive of me,” said Josh as they crossed the road, walking towards a park.

“Same,” said Tyler, “My mom is super cool, I even wrote a song about her once.”

Josh smiled.

“I wish I could write songs, I’d write songs about all my favourite people,” he said.

They walked through the park, talking about their family.

“I’ve got 2 brothers and a sister,” Tyler informed Josh.

“I’ve got 2 sisters and a brother,” said Josh, “ Your family sounds cool, I wanna meet them.”

“May- Look over there!” Tyler exclaimed suddenly, pointing at a small field of dandelions, “There’s so many!”

Tyler walked quickly toward the yellow patch and sat down. Josh sat down beside Tyler and they talked for what seemed like forever. Josh took a flower and put it in Tyler's hair. Tyler giggled.

"How do I look?" he said.

"Like a flower Prince," Josh smiled.

"I'll make you a king," declared Tyler. He picked a couple of dandelions and begs weaving them.

"Woah, that looks sick already," Josh said, looking at Tyler, "Where did you learn that?"

"My mom taught me, she made flower crowns all the time," said Tyler, picking more dandelions when needed.

"You look so cute, all concentrated," Josh said, making Tyler blush.

"You look so cute all the time," Tyler retaliated.

"Okay, but you're literally puppy cute," Josh said, watching Tyler's fingers.

"And you are literally the sun," Tyler said, not looking up from his creation.

"You're like that star that's 500 times bigger than our sun."

"I'm almost done, stop making me blush," Tyler scoffed, getting to the last dandelion.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cutest-Boy-to-Ever-Exist," Josh said, Tyler rolled his eyes.

Tyler managed to get the stems secured and looked at his creation. He scooted closer to Josh and gently placed the golden crown on Josh's head.

"I present to you, King Ruby," Tyler announced, handing over his phone on front camera. Josh looked at himself and giggled.

Josh put the phone down, picked a couple more flowers and stuck them in Tyler's hair.

"Now you're a king too!" he said, and picked up the phone, "Let's take a selfie, we look cute as fuck."

Tyler nodded and scooted even closer to Josh. Josh held up the phone and made a face. Tyler gave Josh a peck on the check as Josh took a picture.

"Oh my God, that was the best one!" Josh exclaimed, showing Tyler the most recent photo. Tyler felt inspired suddenly, he took his phone and typed in some sentences into the notes app. While he was typing he noticed the time, it was already 5.

“Dude, when are you teaching drums today?” Tyler asked, even though he was pretty sure what the answer was.

“5:30, why?” Josh asked.

“It’s already 5,” he said sadly.

“Oh man, we gotta head back!” Josh scrambled to his feet, “Not that I wouldn’t love spending the whole day with you, or even a whole century, but I don’t want to leave Ashton hanging.”

Tyler nodded, smiling.

“It’s alright, we can go on more dates later.”

“Sick,” Josh grinned and took Tyler’s hand and led him towards their apartment building.

“Sick,” Tyler agreed, lyrics running through his head.

 

_Ruby, take my hand, please lead me to the Promised Land,_

_Tell me, where am I from? Your eyes say “Sha da de da dum”._

_Ruby, you’re royalty, in your homeland they all call you King,_

_Tell me, where are you from? Your eyes say “Sha da de da dum"._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this wasn't meant to be a filler chapter, but it kind of feels like it??? Idk, sorry dudes, I'm doing my best!  
> next chapter might be more texting, not sure yet.  
> (This is the type of flower crown Tyler made: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/67/b8/8c/67b88cf9f5ff835cdfbd75d90a5073ba.jpg)


	10. Hello, It's Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete disappeared under the counter. Tyler leaned over it to get a closer look at what Pete was doing.
> 
> Pete popped back up and Tyler almost fell backwards.
> 
> "Jesus Christ," he muttered and Pete had something in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. it's here, finally, after almost 3 months, i a m s o so rr y  
> 2\. tHANK YOU FOR ALL THE KUDOS???? 100 PPL IS A LOT OF PEOPLE AND THE KUDOS ARE STILL GOING UP I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE THIS, THSI FIC IS JUST FLUFF THERE'S NO PLOT, anyways thanks everyone, I didn't think this would happen lmao  
> 3\. more texting adventures + some random things I decided to add bc why not you know

Josh and Tyler rushed into their apartment building. Josh skipped a few steps while climbing the stairs. Tyler huffed at him to slow down, so he did, for about 2 seconds.

"I'm not very athletic anymore, Jish," Tyler reminded. He was trailing behind Josh by about five steps.

"I thought you were the Troy Bolton of our relationship," Josh retaliated, not slowing down. Tyler groaned and picked up speed.

When they finally reached their floor, Tyler was sweating and breathing heavily.

"Almost there!" exclaimed Josh and opened the door.

"This is the most exercise I have done since high school," Tyler complained.

Josh reached the door first, thankfully, Ashton hadn't been there yet. Josh sighed in content.

Tyler wasn't as happy.

"Are you saying we climbed the stairs in record time and he's not even here yet?" he grumbled.

"Aww, don't be that way," Josh giggled, "Here, I'll try to make it up to you."

Josh leaned over and kissed the corner of Tyler's mouth. Tyler's stomach fluttered.

"Okay, maybe for that, it was worth it," Tyler admitted.

"Hey, Josh!" someone said. Tyler turned around to see a brown-haired boy, no older than 16.

"Ashton!" smiled Josh, "Ready for some banging?"

Tyler coughed and Ashton laughed.

"Well, I'll go now, I'll text you later," said Tyler and walked into his apartment.

“Later, babe,” Josh said as Tyler left.

|-/

“Babe, huh?” Ashton asked with a smirk.

“Yep,” Josh answered as he set up the drums.

“Do I still have to listen to you blabber on about him?”

“Duh.”

|-/

Tyler walked through his apartment to his laptop. He crashed onto the couch with a smile, recounting the events in his head. Josh was such an adorable person, Tyler thought. Josh broke (free) into his life, and it already felt like they’ve known each other forever. Which, now that he thought about it, they have. Tyler grinned, the mere idea of Josh making his whole body warm up.

Tyler remembered the photos they took during their date. He quickly edited the really cute one where they had dandelions in their hair and posted it on Instagram. Almost 5 seconds after he had posted it, his phone vibrated.

**New Message from: Beebo Urie @ Tyler**

5:37pm Beebo: what is this  
5:37pm Beebo: WHAT IS THIS

5:37pm Tyler: what

5:38pm Beebo: //Instagram photo of Tyler kissing Josh on the cheek with dandelions in their hair with the caption “-he real life? [photo edit: me]//

5:38pm Tyler: what do you think it is

5:38pm Beebo: !!!!!!!!!!!

**New Message: from Brendon @ Joshler Squad**

5:37pm Debby: BREDNIN

5:39pm Brendon: DBEYGBEYE

5:39pm Debby: B RE ND OSN

5:39pm Beebo: D EBH UYY

5:39pm Debby: ARE THEY DATUSING

5:40pm Brendon: OH MY GSOAOAMSD

5:40pm Pete: obvi  
5:41pm Pete: rmmbr th mmr whre josh dared ty

5:41pm Brendon: O H

5:42pm Patrick: How did you forget that???

5:42pm Brendon: I THEOEUHT IT WS A DRAEM

5:43pm Debby: IM NOT EMOTIONALLY STABLE

**New message: from Debby @ Brendon, Josh and Tyler**

5:39pm Debby: AR E YOU DATTISNG

5:39pm Tyler: whats dattisng

5:39pm Josh: yah

5:40pm Brendon: d a ti ng *

5:40pm Tyler: o

5:40pm Josh: yah

5:41pm Tyler: yeeeee

5:41pm Brendon: sjdhejkshfegskjfsfhsebfsfsjkddsjdhsajhdjhd  
5:41pm Brendon: jsdaajjadha

5:41pm Debby: ejefehjhwfkefweje

5:41pm Brendon: hiufeueseuiwiuewieywiewwye

5:41pm Tyler: st OP

5:41pm Debby: wjdiwhdiegfyegyegeiuew  
5:41pm Debby: shduawgdiagduiawuid

5:42pm Brendon: so  
5:42pm Brendon: wedding?

5:43pm: Tyler blocked two contacts.

|-/

**Monday**

**New message: from Josh Dun @ Tyler**

12:37pm Josh: imagine this

12:38pm Tyler: I’m listening

12:38pm Josh: a horror movie  
12:38pm Josh: a scene where someone is getting brutally murdered

12:39pm Tyler: yep ok

12:39pm Josh: and spooky scary skeletons plays in the background

12:39pm Tyler: amazing.

New message: from Beebo Urie @ Tyler

3:02pm Beebo: [//c](http://kitteninasock.tumblr.com/post/127418251496/fort-of-violets-kitkatminho)lick

3:05pm Tyler: if this is some obscure porn website again I SWEAR TO GOD

3:05pm Beebo: it’s not I promise

3:09pm Tyler: o H My GOD  
3:10pm Tyler: THAT SCARED ME  
3:10pm Tyler: THAT SHOUD BE ILLEGAL WTF

3:11pm Beebo: ;) courtesy of your favourite meme dealer

3:11pm Tyler: stop right now

New Message: from Jish Dun @ Tyler

4:29pm Jish: piano me

4:31pm Tyler: ok

|-/

5:27pm Jish: we n e e e d to start this band  
5:27pm Jish: everyone will listen to us  
5:27pm Jish: we’ll be FAMOUS

5:28pm Tyler: ok  
5:28pm Tyler: how about two happy boys

5:28pm Jish: if we were in a band our happiness would be more like 21 happy boys in 2

5:29pm Tyler: tru

**Tuesday**

**New Message from: Tyler Joseph @ Jish**

2:23pm Josh: is ninety a word

2:24pm Tyler: ninety  
2:24pm Tyler: yes  
2:24pm Tyler: are you ok??

2:25pm Josh: i just  
2:25pm Josh: i saw a post on tumblr that was like “ninety nine”  
2:25pm Josh: and i was rlly suspicious  
2:25pm Josh: bc how many times do u see 99 spelled out like that

2:26pm Tyler: hwo would you spell it

2:26pm Josh: i never thought about it

2:26pm Tyler: me neither actually

2:27pm Josh: I  
2:27pm Josh: fuck

2:28pm Tyler: how do you think 99 likes to be spelt

2:28pm Josh: man we never asked did we

2:29pm Tyler: thats so r00d

2:29pm Josh: fuck let’s go ask

2:30pm Tyler: but

2:30pm Josh: what if 99 likes to b spelled frickin hotdog u know

2:30pm Tyler: but 7 ate 9  
2:31pm Tyler: so how would we ask

2:31pm Josh: SH i t  
2:31pm Josh: ask its parents

2:32pm Tyler: 3x3  
2:32pm Tyler: my otp

2:32pm Josh: wait  
2:33pm Josh: isnt that incest  
2:33pm Josh: wtf ty

2:33pm Tyler: are numbers related’

2:34pm Josh: its the same number

2:34pm Tyler: so  
2:34pm Tyler: they are siblings? no they’re the same person

2:34pm Josh: also why did i think the answer was 16  
2:35pm Josh: clearly the answer is nine  
2:35pm Josh: im the 1 in college?????

2:35pm Tyler: wouldn’t that just be masturbation  
2:35pm Tyler: 3x3

2:36pm Josh: asexual reproduction?

2:36pm Tyler: wHERE DO NUMBERS COME FROM

2:36pm Josh: we mad ethem  
2:37pm Josh: holy shit  
2:37pm Josh: were like gods

2:38pm Tyler: we are the parents  
2:38pm Tyler: the creators

2:38pm Josh: oh my god

2:39pm Tyler: oh my me

2:39pm Josh: so that means that 99 likes to be spelled ninety one  
2:39pm Josh: one  
2:40pm Josh: one  
2:40pm Josh: O N E  
2:40pm Josh: nine  
2:41pm Josh: ninety nine

2:41pm Tyler: 99 = ninety one yes JISHWA

2:42pm Josh: LISTE N I TINHK IM HIGH

2:42pm Tyler: WE ARE TALKING ABOUT NUMBERS HAVING FEELINGS I THINK BRENDON GOT WEED INTO THE VENTILATION SYSTEM AGAIN

2:43pm Josh: again?????

2:43pm Tyler: there was this one time in high school

2:44pm Josh: oh nice

2:44pm Tyler: i’m hungry gotta blast

2:44pm Josh: l8r bb

|-/

Tyler looked into his fridge for what he thought was probably the 56th time. Sighing at the inevitability of having to leave his house to get food, he went to his room to get changed. As he pulled on a shirt, he stared at the bare walls of his room. Tyler kind of missed the walls of his old room, he had so many posters plastered all over them (some of them were there since his emo phase, so he didn’t miss all of them). Giving the pale paint one more look, he decided it was time to decorate.

Tyler took his keys and walked out of the door. He stopped in the hall, wondering if he should ask Josh to go with him again, but thought against it. He was probably not at home, college being something he usually went to.

The walk to the store was uneventful, so was the time he spent picking between sour cream or BBQ chips. He payed for his groceries and walked out of the store. Tyler didn’t want to go home yet though, so he began to walk in the direction of the coffee shop. As he walked, he took in the scenery, the trees were turning gold already, as it was October. He thought back to his and Josh’s date, making flower crowns. Dandelions in fall? The talk about climate change must be a serious thing, Tyler thought.

Tyler walked into the coffee shop with a ding.

"Hello, ho- TYLER!" the person at the register yelled, Tyler started. A couple of people looked towards the voice.

"Pete?" Tyler said, fully knowing it's Pete, but coming out like a question anyway. He came closer.

"That's me!" Pete said excitedly, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to get a coffee, what are _you_ doing here?"

"I work here," Pete grinned at Tyler, "Anyway, what would you like, Ty?"

"Just a coffee with milk is cool," Tyler said and leaned against the counter, "I didn't know you worked here?"

"Well, gotta pay off those stupid ass student loans somehow," Pete replied, putting in the order, "2 dollars and 57 cents please."

Tyler handed Pete the money and he hummed as he prepared Tyler's coffee.

"Any progress with Patrick?"

Pete looked over his shoulder at Tyler.

"Aren't you guys friends, doesn't he tell you?"

Patrick told Tyler a couple of things about Pete. And by a couple, Tyler meant he never shuts up about him. Obviously Tyler knew everything going on with them, but he wanted to keep the conversation going.

"I mean, not really, we talk about other things."

"Well, I didn't suck his dick yet, but I feel like I'm very close to, you know?" Pete said as he handed over Tyler's coffee.

"Okay, I don't need to know about that," Tyler mocked disgust.

"You asked," Pete shrugged, "How's Josh?"

"Aren't you guys friends, doesn't he tell you?" Tyler repeated. Pete grinned at him.

"He never shuts up about you," Pete admitted and Tyler blushed. Suddenly, Pete gasped.

"What?" Tyler said, alarmed.

"Shit, I almost forgot!" Pete exclaimed as he patted his pockets, "Wait here!"

Pete disappeared under the counter. Tyler leaned over it to get a closer look at what Pete was doing.

Pete popped back up and Tyler almost fell backwards.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered and Pete had something in his hands.

"Here," Pete said, handing a photo over to Tyler.

"Um?" Tyler said, confused. It was a framed picture of maybe 3-4 year old Pete, and it was signed.

"Well? Do you like it?" Pete inquired.

"I guess? Why though?"

"You came into my shop and you're a friend," said Pete as if it was obvious, "I have to give you some gift!"

"So, you give me a picture of your 4-year-old self."

"I couldn't pay for your coffee, I'm fuckin' broke," Pete shrugged, "Also, I was 5."

"Do you just carry around framed pictures of yourself?" Tyler asked, looking from the photo at Pete.

"Well, duh, you never know when you need one!"

Tyler was still confused, but he decided to accept the strange gift.

"What do I do with this?"

"I don't know," Pete shrugged again, "Make a shrine, burn it, hang it on a wall... I don't give a shit. Just don't sell my soul for me."

An idea popped into Tyler's head.

"Alright. Thanks Pete," Tyler put the photo into his grocery bag and took the coffee.

"See ya later, Ty!" Pete waved as Tyler walked out.

Tyler knew exactly where he was going to put this photo. His grand idea was to spice up his barren bedroom walls with pictures of his favourite people, Pete being the first person he was going to hang on the wall.

Tyler barged into his apartment excitedly. He put all his groceries into their assigned spots in the fridge and cupboards. He took out the framed photo and rushed to his room. Tyler pressed it against one of the walls, trying to see if it looked nice. Cursing his arms for not being long enough, he decided the spot above his bed would work.

Tyler realized at that moment that tape wouldn’t hold up the framed picture Pete had given him. He began the search for a hammer and nails. Thankfully, his dad had given him a box of tools when he announced that he’d found an apartment. The only thing was, Tyler would have been lying if he said he’d ever used a hammer properly. Tyler’s dad always wanted Tyler to be a stereotypical Bro ™, but that didn’t really happen (do stereotypical bros kiss other bros? Without saying “no homo”?).

Tyler shakily held the nail to the wall and gently tapped it with the hammer. Nothing happened. Tyler sighed, and almost gave up, but then remembered that Google was a thing. He opened up his laptop and typed in “how to hammer nails into walls”. He skimmed a couple of the pages, getting a quick gist of what he was supposed to do; hit hard, but not too hard, make sure not to hit a pipe, and measure first.

Tyler took out a pencil and marked the optimal spot for the photo. He aligned the nail with the marking and swung, this time harder. As the hammer collided with the wall, Tyler realized he broke his own rule of not going too hard. Tyler immediately took his hand off the wall, the nail falling to the floor along with multiple pieces of the wall. Someone screamed.

Tyler’s attempt at hanging a picture completely demolished his wall. Who knew that it was so thin??

Tyler looked through the hole he created, completely done with himself, ready to ascend into space.

“Well, this is not how I imagined our first time,” a voice said, pulling Tyler out of his stupor. It was Josh. Of course it was, Tyler thought and then turned red as he realized Josh had zero clothes on. Tyler quickly shielded his eyes.

“Oh my god, no! I’m so sorry!” Tyler exclaimed, shutting his eyes so hard he began to see stars.

“How did you do this?” Josh walked closer to the hole examining it, “What were you trying to do?”

“Get your clothes on, I can’t think,” Tyler peeked through his fingers, feeling a mixture of relief, but also disappointment that Josh was close enough to the wall that you couldn’t see anything past his collarbone.

“I mean, you don’t have to?” Josh said with a smirk. Tyler blushed.

“Joshua William Dun.”

“Okay sorry.”

Tyler stared at Josh expectedly for about 5 seconds. Josh didn’t move. Tyler cocked his eyebrow.

“I mean-“

“Josh,” Tyler said, elongating the “o”.

“Alright fine,” Josh sighed, and mimicked a tear falling down his face with his finger, “All I’m saying, is I was sitting here, straight out of the shower, minding my own business, when suddenly you break our wall and now _you_ tell me to take my clothes off?”

Tyler snickered.

“Rude,” Josh said and pulled on sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Tyler tried not to stare (failing).

“So, tell me how you managed to do this, Troy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy I'll probs post another chapter in the next 2 weeks bc it's winter break!!! hallelujah  
> I want to write smut, but i am a pan cis girl virgin so we'll see how that works out  
> hmu on tumblr: http://kitteninasock.tumblr.com/


	11. Gratuitous Sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler was getting really annoyed by all this drumming. He just wanted to do the chores!
> 
> “Josh, you would make an awful husband,” Tyler turned to face Josh, but woke up instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two weeks? more like two years am i right ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> also this is sex? i guess i'm coming back strong

“Well this is kind of strange,” said Tyler looking up at the ceiling.

“Yeah,” Josh agreed, his voice clear through the fresh hole in the wall, “It’s like a sleepover that never ends.”

“That’s not that bad,” Tyler said, “Speaking of sleep, I think I am ready for that.”

“Ok,” said Josh, yawning, “Goodnight”

“Sleep well my sweet summer child,” Tyler said turning off his lamp. Josh laughed.

Tyler closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

“Um, Josh?” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Can you like, turn your light off?”

“No.”

“What? Why not?” Tyler said in disbelief, eyes open now.

“I can’t sleep with the lights off, sorry,” Josh said.

“Well I can’t sleep with the lights on!”

“I’m not turning them off.”

“Just do it, Josh! Don’t you care about me?”

“Don’t you care about me?” Josh repeated. Tyler groaned.

“Just get out of my face with the lights on!”

“Yeah? Well get in my face with the lights off.”

“What?”

“What?”

Tyler groaned into his pillow.

“I’m gonna cover up the wall with something give me a second,” he gave in, standing up.

“Uh, don’t,” Josh said.

“Dude, I can’t sleep like this!”

“I know, but let me cover it up instead, last time you tried to do something with the wall, you made a hole.”

“Good point,” Tyler replied and plopped back down on his bed. A couple moments later, his room darkened.

“Thank you, weirdo,” he said.

“No problem,” Josh said, softer now.

Tyler closed his eyes, thinking of bright red hair and chocolate eyes.

|-/

Tyler wore orange. It’s the first thing he noticed when opening his eyes. It was hard not to notice it when he was surrounded by bleak grey walls.

There was rustling around him, people talking. He stood up and walked closer to the bars that separated him from the others.

He could see a long dark hallway, and what sounded like a shopping cart being pushed in the distance. He stood for a while, just looking.

 _Maybe I should do my dishes_ , Tyler thought, but right as he did, the shopping cart sound became loud as the source wheeled into the corridor.

Tyler stared at Josh as he drummed his way past the other cells. Josh slowed down in front of Tyler.

“Hi, Josh,” Tyler said.

“Tyler,” said Josh, breathlessly. He was drumming pretty hard.

“I was just thinking of doing some chores, do you want to help?” Tyler asked, showing Josh his unmade bed and dirty dishes.

“Uh… yeah,” Josh said, but continued drumming.

Tyler bent the bars of his cell to let Josh in and turned to his bed.

“So I was thinking, if I held this part of the covers and y-“ Tyler began, but was rudely interrupted.

“Fuck, Tyler,” Josh groaned. Tyler was getting really annoyed by all this drumming. He just wanted to do the chores!

“Josh, you would make an awful husband,” Tyler turned to face Josh, but woke up instead.

Tyler opened his eyes to his semi-dark room, and was greeted by the sounds of “drumming” and Josh “agreeing to do the chores”.  Tyler thought he could be blushing, but all the blood in his body seemed to go to a different spot.

“Fuck,” Josh moaned. Tyler was having some very not Christian thoughts. He couldn’t help, but imagine Josh’s half-lidded eyes, his hair messy, his breath uneven, his hand wrapped around his-

“Yikes,” Tyler whispered to himself, suddenly completely awake. His mind was racing, what should he do? Listening to Josh like this felt a little like he was invading his privacy, but on the other hand, Tyler didn’t really want it to stop. As Tyler was trying to think of a good solution, his focus kept wavering. He could put in headphones and somehow ignore his growing problem, pun intended, he just had to reach over to-

“Shit, Tyler,” Josh whimpered, completely derailing Tyler’s thought process. His hands began to itch towards his boxers. If Josh was thinking about him, it would be okay to help himself out too, right? Tyler let his mind wander, his hands travelling closer to his boxers. He fantasized about Josh’s teeth scraping against his skin, Josh's hands carefully tugging down his underwear, Josh’s lips on his thighs. Tyler could almost feel Josh’s heat above him, could almost imagine Josh’s hands replacing his own as he slipped his hand inside his boxers. Tyler’s imagination along with the authentic sound made his head spin. He imagined Josh stroking him and making his own noise to show appreciation.

Tyler didn’t notice that the sounds coming from Josh’s room stopped until it was too late.

"Tyler?" Although still breathless, Josh's voice sounded more questioning than before. Not an involuntary moan.  Tyler's hand stopped moving immediately.  
  
"You know I heard you, right?" said Josh.

  
Say something, Tyler.  
  
"Um..." he managed while Josh snickered, "Don't make fun of me, you started it!"  
  
"Haven't really stopped either," Josh said and Tyler could tell he was smirking, "It's kinda hard to do myself, wish you could help me out."  
  
Tyler's brain seemed to blank, probably because of a lack of blood.  
  
"Huh?" Tyler asked dumbly.  
  
"We're neighbours, Tyler," said Josh, voice unsteady, "You could come see what I'm up to yourself."  
  
Tyler quickly put his boxers back up on his hips.  
  
"Coming!" he said, getting out of bed.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you will," Josh replied.  
  
Heart racing, Tyler ran out of his apartment and knocked on Josh's door with anticipation. He refrained from calling himself "The Police" this time.  
  
The door opened almost immediately, Tyler only noticed lustful eyes before Josh pulled him inside and slammed him against the hallway wall. Their lips met messily, Josh's hands immediately finding Tyler's back. Josh slid them under Tyler's shirt and pinned him closer to the wall. Tyler groaned as he felt Josh's erection against his own. He gripped Josh's hair for support as he ground up, looking for any kind of friction. Josh answered by sliding his hands down to Tyler's ass, holding him steady as he moved his hips down making Tyler see stars. Josh moved to Tyler's neck, biting down gently.  
  
"Fuck, Josh," Tyler moaned, feeling Josh smile against his new bruise.  
  
"Whatever you want, Ty," he said, voice lower than Tyler had been used to. Tyler thought he couldn't get any harder, but apparently he was wrong.  
  
"Is this okay?" Josh asked, tugging at Tyler's shirt. Tyler managed a nod and his shirt was lifted above his head. Tyler felt dizzy as he felt eyes scan his skin. Tyler stared back at Josh, admiring his colourful tattoos and rising chest.  
  
"You're beautiful," Josh whispered.  
  
"You too," Tyler replied.  
  
Josh's lips went to Tyler's jaw, kissing down his neck, then his chest, to his stomach. Josh's fingers dragged down Tyler's sides, hooking under the waistband of his boxers. Josh was now pressing soft kisses to his happy trail. Tyler could feel Josh's hot breath through his boxers.  
  
Tyler felt weightless, the only thing that mattered was Josh and the heat in between his thighs.  
  
Josh looked up at Tyler, making eye contact. Tyler inhaled as he let his fingers latch on to Josh's hair.  
  
"Can I blow you?" asked Josh, his face painfully far from where Tyler wanted it.  
  
"Please," Tyler groaned. Josh pulled down his boxers teasingly until Tyler's dick sprang free. Tyler hissed as Josh's hands travelled up his inner thighs.  
  
Tyler closed his eyes and leaned his entire weight against the wall, Josh's breath was driving him crazy. Tyler twitched as he felt Josh wrap his hand around the base of his dick.

  
"Careful, you almost hit me in the face with your tower there, Tyler," Josh snickered. Tyler huffed.  
  
"Stop teasing," he whined and repeated the motion. Tyler was getting impatient and was about to protest again, how-  
  
His protest was interrupted by a moan escaping his throat as Josh licked up from the base to the top.  
  
"Finally," Tyler managed before Josh took the tip of his dick into his mouth. Tyler no longer cared about anything other than the texture of Josh's hair and his swirling tongue.

  
As if his mouth wasn't enough, Josh slid his wrist up and down Tyler's length. Tyler tightened his grip on Josh's hair which caused him to groan, the vibrations making Tyler wonder how he has lasted for so long already.   
  
"Fuck Josh," Tyler whimpered in agreement as Josh picked up the pace, "I'm gonna-"  
  
Tyler cut himself off. He made himself look down at Josh and hoped the image would be ingrained in his mind forever. Seeing the pair of chocolate eyes looking back at him basically hurled him over the edge.  
  
Tyler's thighs shook and his head fell backwards. He was sure the sound he made would make him embarrassed if he thought about it too much. He held on to Josh's hair as if his life depended on it while he came, trying his best to keep himself standing.  
  
"Holy shit," Tyler said, catching his breath, "That was great!"  
  
"What can I say, I'm talented," Josh said, getting up from his knees.  
  
Tyler took a good look at Josh's red lips and flushed face. If it was possible for him to get hard again, he would. His eyes travelled down Josh's chest down to the bulge in his boxers.  
  
"Um, can I-"  
  
"God, yes, please," Josh interrupted and leaned closer for a kiss, but Tyler stopped him.  
  
"No kissing, I'm not gay," Tyler joked (though really, he just didn't want to taste himself on Josh's lips).  
  
Josh laughed, but it soon turned into a moan as Tyler grabbed Josh's cock.  
  
Tyler pushed Josh down on the couch and stroked up slowly. Josh's mouth was open, his eyes shut, he was moving his hips up, trying to speed up Tyler's wrist. Tyler had never seen anything more gorgeous. Josh gripped Tyler's shoulder. Tyler could tell he was already close.  
  
Tyler leaned down to kiss his neck and increased his speed. Josh was coming undone under him.  
  
"I can't wait for you to pound me like your drums," Tyler said the first thing he could think of, and it worked. Josh's hips twitched, his eyes slid back, his facial expression screamed euphoria. Tyler could imagine seeing this in the Louvre.  
  
As Josh's breathing slowed down, Tyler wiped his hand on his shirt that he found on the floor.  
  
"That was..."  
  
"Great," Tyler finished Josh's sentence.  
  
"We should definitely do that again sometime," Josh said, wrapping his arms around Tyler.  
  
"Agreed," Tyler agreed, and laid his head on Josh's chest, hearing his heartbeat. Tyler was feeling sleepy.  
  
"We should move to the bed," Josh said slowly, as if reading Tyler's mind.  
  
"Yeah... We should," Tyler said, eyes closing.  
  
"I like you a lot," Josh whispered.  
  
"I like you a lot too," Tyler whispered back, and he could no longer sense anything except the smell of drumming and a good decision.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no promises anymore. after two years i really cannot guarantee anything. my tumblr is @kindaaweird if you're interested. we'll see what happens

**Author's Note:**

> //shrugs  
> There will be more


End file.
